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1 

12X 

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20X 

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32X 

Th«  copy  filmvd  har*  has  b««n  r«produe«d  thanks 
to  ths  gsnorosity  of: 

D.  B.  Weldon  Library 
University  of  Western  Ontario 
(Regional  History  Room) 

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filming  contract  spacificationa. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covars  are  filmad 
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sion,  or  tha  baeic  eovar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  llluatratad  impraa- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  psga  with  a  printad 
or  llluatratad  impraaaion. 


Tha  laat  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — » (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  ▼  (moaning  "ENO"I. 
whichavar  appiiaa. 

Maoa.  plataa,  charts,  ate.,  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduetion  ratioa.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  Ineiudad  in  cna  axposura  ara  filmad 
baginning  In  tha  uppar  laft  Isnd  eomar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framas    <% 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrama  illuatrata  tha 
mathod: 


L'axamplaira  fiim4  fut  raproduit  grAea  A  la 
gAniroait*  da: 

D.  B.  Weldon  Library 
University  of  Western  Ontario 
(Regional  History  Room) 

Laa  imagaa  suivantaa  ont  tti  raproduitaa  avae  la 
plua  grand  soin,  eompta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat«  da  l'axamplaira  filmA.  at  an 
eonformiti  avae  laa  conditiona  du  contrat  da 
fiimaga. 

Laa  axamplairaa  originaur  dont  la  couvartura  9n 
papiar  aat  imprim^a  sont  filmte  sn  commandant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
damiAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Impraaaion  ou  d'lllubtration,  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  eaa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplairaa 
originaux  sont  filmte  9n  commandant  par  la 
prami^ra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Impraaaion  ou  d'Uluatration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  symbotaa  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
damlAra  imaga  da  chaqua  microfiche,  salon  la 
eaa:  la  symbols  — ^  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  la 
symbols  V  signifia  "FIN". 

Laa  eartaa,  planehaa.  tablaaux.  ate.,  pauvant  4tra 
nimtm  i  daa  taux  da  rdduetion  diff«rants. 
Lorsqua  la  documant  aat  trop  grand  pour  itra 
raproduit  an  un  saul  ciieh*.  II  aat  film*  k  partir 
da  I'angia  sup4riaur  gaueha,  da  gaucha  i  droita, 
at  da  haut  an  baa,  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d'Imagaa  nieassaira.  Laa  diagrammaa  suivants 
iliustrant  la  m^thoda. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

i 


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WATERS. 


»  *1.<i*v 


11';  ! 


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I 


FISHING 


IN 


AMERICAN    WATERS. 


By   GENIO    C.  SCOTT. 


mrH  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


"Give  me,  Great  Father,  give  me  strength  and  health, 
A  liberal  heart,  affections  kind  and  free ; 
My  rod— my  line— be  these  my  pride,  my  wealth ! 
They  yield  me  present  joys— they  draw  my  soul  to  Thee. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANK  I.  IN  8QCAKE. 
1869. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 
Genio  C.   Scott, 

'"  "'  """■'  "^'Zt  '?i^'"«  Co„„  Of  .,.  „„i„a  S.«es  for  ,he 
Southern  District  of  New  York.  ' 


■e^  : 


/§4(^ 


TO 


he 


THE   AMERICAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

FOR   THE    PROTECTION   OP 

'fish,  game,  and  birds  of  song, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  RESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED 


BY 


THE  AUTHOR. 


(I 


f   '■ 


PREFACE. 


As  it  miglit  not  be  deemed  kind  in  me  to  inflict  upon  the 
reader  my  tliousand  reasons  for  writing  and  illustrating  this 
book  with  pencil  sketches  copied  from  life,  1  will  therefore 
merely  state  that  my  experience  of  many  years  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  gentle  art,  which  has  led  nie  through  so  many 
scenes  of  beauty  and  loveliness,  has  made  me  wish  that 
all  the  world  might  learn  the  enjoyment  conferred  by  the 
practice  of  angling. 

I  have  endeavored  to  portray  the  recreations  of  the  an- 
gler in  America,  with  his  implements  and  his  game ;  add- 
ing a  small  tribute  to  the  temperate  and  industrious  class 
of  men  who  follow  for  a  livelihood  the  hazardous  business 
of  hshing  on  the  broad  seas. 

An  outline  of  the  progress  of  fish-culture  in  Europe  and 
America  is  also  given,  with  pencil  sketches  illustrative  of 
the  art  of  liatchhig  and  rearing  fishes,  including  stairs  and 
fish-passes  for  enabling  fishes  to  surmount  mill-dams  and 
falls. 

The  fishes  of  our  coast  and  estuaries,  and  the  peculiar 
methods  adopted  for  their  capture,  form  not  only  a  sealed 
book  to  Europeans,  but  to  those  anglers  in  America  also 
who  confine  their  recreations  to  fresh-water  attractions. 
Each  game  fish  affords  a  distinct  interest,  with  peculiarities 
worth  studying. 

My  sketches  may  lack  artistic  finish,  but  possess  the 
merit  of  correct  outline;  and  in  the  words  of  Raphael, 
The  outhne  is  the  picture."     The  reader  may  be  assured 
that  fishmg,  whether  for  recreation  or  gain,  entices  its  vo- 
taries to  unexplored  sources  uf  revenue  and  pleasure 


viii 


PREFACE. 


J.  B.  Steai'iis,  Brookhii  E  D     P^^«^-    • 

S.Sr;  Kt;f  ™^™"'"'^-'  B,o„™fie.d,N.  Y.    Katura. 
^  MMieton,  Ca^an, &  Co.,F..U„„  Ma,.et.     S,aMes  of 

Pntcbard  Brotliers,  Fulton  Street.     Artificial  FV  , 

hne  Bass-reel.  ^"'^^n<^i{il  i^  lies  and 

Mr.  M'Bride,  Mumford    K  Y      V       n. 
Stained  Gut  Lines.  ^'  ^^  ^-     ^"^^^   Trout-flies   and 

John  Shields,  Brookline  Mis^     '^,..  • 
Trout-flies.  ^^^^^-^lass.     Specnnens  of  excellent 


Ct)  N  T  E  N  T  S. 


PART  I. 

COAST  a™  ESTUARV  PISHIKG  Wm.  «0D  AKD  L^E. 

Section  CHAPTER    I 

I.  General  Characterization  of  Fishes          *  ^w 

11.  i  i-erequisites  for  Fishing              17 

III.  Ge,^al  Habits  and  Senses  of  Fi;i^:::: ^2 

IV.  On  Vision  in  Fishes 24 

V.  On  Taste  in  Fishes ,' 26 

VI.  On  Smell  in  Fishes ..'.[ ' ' 33 

VII.  On  Hearing  in  Fishes. . ..........'.'.*.".* 36 

3^ 

T  -r        ,.                     CHAPTER  II. 
I.  Fecundity  of  Fishes 

II.  Voracity  of  Fishes.... • 41 

III.  Times  of  Feeding  and  ^i^ts'^  Fbhei^Z''.'ZZ *^ 

T  ^  ■  CHAPTER   III. 

1.  Coast  and  Estuary  Fishes... 

II.  Angling  for  Striped  Bass...  46 

in.  Trolling  in  Hell  Gate 48 

IV.  Still-baiting  for  Bass .'>2 

V.  Casting-bait  for  Striped  Bass ^8 

VI.  Angling  at  the  Bassing  Clubs... 64 

""• 69 

T  IV    ,«u  CHAPTER    IV. 

1.  VVeakfish  or  Squeteague..  , 

II.  Southern  Sea  Trout ..*.".',' 79 

III.  Sheepshead 82 

IV.  Angling  for  Sheepshead."..'." 84 

V.  The  Kingfish 92 

VI.  The  Hogfish,  98 ;  the  Gnmteroo*'' tV,P  rTr"*',;;"';, ^•''^ 

White  Perch,  'lOl ;  the  Sm'ek  'lO^     tt"^  ^^""'^' ''' '  ^'^« 
Caplin '  ^"^  '  *h«  Spearing,  1 03 ;  the 

vm  S''  S""  ^^'''  106;  the  Poi'gee.'.Z ^^^ 

VIII.  The  Family  of  the  Wrasses  or  Rockfi;h"7;r":r"r;' ^"^ 

BIackfish,113;  theFlounder                  '     '^ ''  '^^  ^^"""g  ^^ 
lA.  TheBluefish 116 

117 


^  Contents. 

Swtion 

X.  Tlie  Spanish  Mackerel '  ^"^^ 

XI.  The  Bonetta  or  Boiiita. ^^^ 

XII.  Thecero,cerus,or8ien;;'i347"ti;eHo;;;"Ma;;k^;i::::::::::::::;  J3J 

— ■ — - ♦ ^^^ 

PART   II. 

FRESH-WATER  FISHING  WITH  FLY  AND  BAIT 

CHAPTER   I. 
I.  The  Poetry  of  Angling. 

IL  The  Brook  Trout .'." ^*' 

HI.  Fly-fishiug  for  Trout,  l^^rModern'^;!!;;  fo^Fli^^j-;;;;;;;^^       ]^ 

CHAPTER  II. 
I   Fly-fishing  on  Mas^apiqua  Lake 

II.  How  to  Pish  a  Stream .f 

105 

;  -Lianding- nets,  173;  Troui ' 
ightening  Casting-lines,  1 7.-) 

rout-flies i^^ 

I/O 

CHAPTER    III 
I.  Middle  Dam  Camp... 

III.  Bait-fishing  for  Trout  ^^^ 

189 

CHAPTER   IV. 

I.  Lesson  hy  Josh  Billings,  191 ;  the  Ardent  Angler..  ,no 

H.  Anghng  for  Children '^^ 

198 

CHAPTER   V. 
I.  The  Salmon • 

IL  Outfit  for  Salmon-fishing "^^ 

yn.  Jolly  Sport  on  Rattling  Run ''^^^ 

MIL  Ply-fishing  helow  the  Palls '""""* ;^*' 

IX.  Thoughts  of  returnii.g  Homeward zt^ 

>...  The  Silver  or  Sea  Trout,  2r„K ,  the  whi;;T;;;;;;"^;;H:';j;;-vfi;;: 

nmish,  2.!0;  Red  Tro...  of  Long  Lake,  2(12;  Trout  of  Sene  a 
and  Cayuga  Lakes,  263  ;  the  Mackinmv  Trout..  "  .r, 

XL  American  Pickerel  or  Pike,  2GG  ;  Skittering  f<„.  Pi.'.L^^d 'among 

a.e  Lily-pads,  270;  Still-baiting  for  Pickerel ...    .        o;, 


Vane 

.  126 
.  132 
,   135 


CoJ^^TENTS. 


XI 


Section  CHAPTER    VI. 

I.  Trolling  among  the  Thousand  Islands  ^'^'^ 

II.  The  Maskhionge -74 

III.  The  Black  Bass,  280;  the  Oswego  Bas^; 2827 iheBh^^Ba^         ^'^ 

r  n'eTaLf  ''-''-'  "-^  -  ^^^^'  Hen;'2i.f  r/ 

IV.  The  Sunfish,  28G  ;   the  i'^rch,287  ;"ihe'^a:^;^'orW^n:;;^a  '^' 

Pike,  288;  theWhitefish,290;  the  Lake  Herring,  291     deS 
coor  Ciscoquette,2()2;  the  Shiner ^'        '         ^'"  ^^, 

mw^fn^^f"  Trolling-bait,  297;   the  Propelling  Min- 
now, 2Jh  ;   Buel's  Patent  Feather  Troll    900  .   c,  ■     •      ?r,    , , 
for  Live  B„i„,  ,,,, ,  Sp„„„  VicttirLS  Jn^"™?.  ^S' 
...e  We,,„er  and  Bai.s,  303;  Ki.h  -  hooks  *3oT"^,„t  .fc 

310 


PART   III. 

COMMERCIAL   FISHERIES. 

T   ,     ^.  ,  CHAPTER   I. 

Lake  Fisheries 

315 

CHAPTER  IL 

I.  The »«;:;!":: '™ """"-'"  °'  ™"  ™— "«- 

IL  The  Shad 319 

IV.  Ti,o  codfeh-audiiii;;^  c;;,y,;gV-;3^^^^  ",-» 

o28 

xvu  ^  ^■..  CHAPTER   IIL 

^^  hale  Fishing,  332  ;  the  Striped  Red  Mullet 

008 

^  ,  CHAPTEr.  IV. 

&alt-wator  Fisheries,  339;  the  Chesapeake  Bav  Fishery  340.  p;„ , 

Haddocks,  342  ;  Preserving  Food-fishes^ Fresh    '^'         '   "^'"^^"^  .,, 

o4iJ 


The  Art  among  the  Ancients 


PART   IV. 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  FISH-CULTURE. 
CHAPTER   L 


347 


Xll 


CoNTEJJTS. 


Section  CHAPTER    II 

iMsh-cuftnre  in  Europe  in  Early  Times ' 

^ish-culture  of  this  Centu^!;^!!!!./'^-  ^^^^ 

***** •••«..,  Qr,*" 

x.f      ITT-  CHAPTER   IV 

Natural  History  of  the  S-iImnn  'jr-    t^      . 

y   ^^"^^'^'™«»>^<'';  Development  of  the  Sahnon 371 

I   Fi.h  P  .  CHAPTER  V. 

X.  i^ish  Propagation  assisted  by  Art   '^7S     i     .  «r 
Salmon.  ;?«•?  .  ....,.;„,  t.".^.^'^'.*^^^  5  Ijest  Wa 


bed,  3..i;  fb;ding';;:7Tro;;r^'^^''  ^'"'"""'"^  ^  ^l™"'g- 
Ponds  with  Trout..  °'  ''^'''"""'  ^•'- 5   «t«^'ki"g  old 

II.  Aiiisworth's  Race  and  ycreens'"'}<i7.'''^ ', 393 

«ace,  401  ;  ^^  General  Dh-  'ti'  ■>'  w  r,?  V'^^""/  ^^''^^•'"■"^' 
Farmer  should  have  a  Trout  iZJi  !r  r^''"'  f' '  '''"'y 
tions ^lesene,  40,, ;  General  Observa- 

_* 40G 

c  I         „  CHAPTER   VI 

Salmon  Passes,  Ladders,  etc 

-107 


PART  V. 

A  GLIMPSE  OP  ICHTHYOLOGY. 

Cartilaginous  Fishes .„_ . . .      '        '   "^ '"'''  ^''''•^•"^  «f" Wishes- 

rr.  The  common  Eol  -f^ri.  fi,„  t ,' 4<l'> 

■".  «...  fo,.  aoe,i,::;,t";,  ll'VCSS  •"""  '""" "  «' 

440 


APPEN^DIX 

Fancy  Drinks,  4(;o  •  Genon,!  i'„J    ,','>'  -^''^  !  <-'<Jni])()undiiig 


Page 

..  350 


.   Soii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


393 


40G 


•iVt 


"     .-I 


32 
3!) 

■to 


1.  Frontispiece.— The  Striped  Bass. 
'2.  Title-page.— An  Angler's  Outflt. 
3.  First  Families 


PAQE 

134 
136 
130 
137 


44.  Cero  or  Sierra 

45.  Ilarpooiiiug 

aNanicsofPlos f,  ?,  „,"  °;'""'" ... 

.JS:S,US,r""- ::•■•     :S».-e:::::::;;::::: 


147 
152 
155 
1.19 
ICO 
101 
102 
1(54 
105 


15.PlayiugaBassintheSurf:::::::"  cK"  wf  r"  '  ^'^™™ - 

10.  Baits,  Thumb-stall,  Bait-spoon  ....  cr     .'  T^Sllt"^'''  ""'  "^'"^'^ ^^ 

17.  Shrimp  and  Prawn 7^  ,.„   !      "  "'°! 177 

18.Weak<ishorSquol.,,„e..  ^o  cJ"  trm.''T™ ^'' 

19.  Southern  Sea  Tnnu  ....     '"  '  "  Sf "''"'""  ^"""P 

20.  The  Shecpshead L  :.  If'^'H  ^'""'"■"'^ 


180 
ISl 


-■  ^SS^'.'^'  '''^'''^^    ^^  Sl-^'-t  Bends 


22, 


85  0.^  Fly  Hooks  ^^ 

]=;,'> 


185 


191 
193 


•!iy  Drake,  FJy jg^ 


23.  Tackle  for  Kingflsh.     0^)    t  ^'"^'^ Trout-flies '  '  '^ 

24.  The  irogfi.*. .....   "!.':t'-  n,?'"  ^'""'^'^ 

25.  The  Oxrunttr  98  07.  1  lie  Ardent  Angler 

20.  The  Golden  MuVk.;." .■:::::.■ ,!";:'•  ^"■?'^»  «••«'■ 

27.  The  White  Perch J '  '^'  ^^"'"?  '^  ^'^'^-^ 

-'8.TheSmelt n! '?' ^''''"'"S 

29.  Oast  for  small  Fishes:::;:; Tmi^lT'"'T] 

■•iO.  .-.  .aring  or  Silverside ol  n"  "''^"^^^'^''"""■'•od  . 

31.  The  Caplin  '  ^^''^-'looks 

-  ^"'"^  "•*•  Fishing  Equipment . . 

ion  1.5.  Getting  a  Bite 

109  70.  Encampment ; ; 

111  77.  Camp  Bed ;;:;; 

117  78.  Pool  ))elow  the  Chute 

120  70.  Silver  or  Sea  Trout 

121  8((.  The  White  Trout 


••i2.  Sea  Bass 

33.  Porgee 

U.  Wrasses  or  Rockflsh 
35.  The  Blueflsh 

86,  Bluetlsh  Squids  . . . . ; 

87.  The  FlyiuL'  Fish 

.38.  Troll!        '        '       " " " 

.^9.  The  Troller  made  Bait  of 

40.  The  Spanish  Mackerel  . . . . 

41.  Spanish  Mackerel  Feeding 


ling  for  Blueflsh ,00  «i'  ti,„  iv      .   •  , 

'r,.„ii„ .1    IT 1-.SM.  lho\\  inniuish. 


122  S2.1?od  Trout  of  Long  Lake 
127  8.^.  Trout  of  Seneca  Lake 


,       ' "  j""iKuuM  reeding I.^n  sjj  Ti.„  iir    i-         ™ 

42.  SpainVl,  Mnckere)  H^xM^  '  -     'l    ,;•  ;!'^  ^ackninw  Trout,  -. . 

13.  Bonettu  or  Bonito. . ! 00  .  ^  l^'^'^'S}  "''  ^^'ke 


.   198 
.  201 
.  202 
.   208 
.  214 
215 
.  216 
.  22.3 
.  229 
.  245 
.  256 
269 
200 
202 
204 
2G5 


132,80.  Open  counteuauces ;::::;::::;;;;;  oj? 


XIV 


IisT  OP  Illusteations. 


f!'  ^'^'"ering  for  Pickerel . 

88.  Still-baitiug  for  Pxkerel  . 

89.  Dragon  Flies. 


PAOKl 

.  2T01131. 


Parr  Fifteen  Mouths  01(1. 


paqe 
3T4 


—  27^1132.  Smolt  Fifteen  MnmhJ'AVj 

91.  The  M;.kinong6    "'""''  '''""''' '  Hth  ^^"^'  «'^"«o"' •  •  •.■ lit 

92.  The  Black  Bast... f^f  N  The  Swordfish Ill 

93.ThecswegoBas8..:;:: Jltt-^^^''^'''^-^^''''^ •••".' S 

94.  Black  Bass  of  the  South..:::::;.-  mS  "'^if^'^^'T*''  '''•"y-  »"rt  Grili;'"  S 

95.  Spottea  Bass  or  Speckled  Hen        eS  Loo'  ^'P^°"  '^^'^  ^'"cers '  f! 

90.  Rock  Bass  of  the  Lakes  " ' "  ?ff  !f '  ^^"^^"ng  Salmon  Eggs. f*! 

97.  Sunflsh ' 286  140.  Stripping  a  Tront ...      f' 

98.  The  Perch : :::; 28!|  41.  Feeding  Yo,;ng  Tront:::: foj 

99.  Glass-eyed  Pike ....  f']f-  ^msworth's  Hatching-race f - 

100.  Whitefish .  289  143.  A  Hard  Leap...        ^         ^^' 

101.  Lake  Herring       290  144.  Salmon  Leaps....  

102.  Cisco  or  CiscoquetVe  : : : : Sf/  ^;?"y««dare  Salmon-pa.^^s 

10.S.  Shiner-natural  Size  lf,\]f-  ^''S«  Salmon-stairs  . . . . 

104.  Bait-can ^94  147.  Canadian  Salmon-stairs 

105.  Spinning  Tackle  . . : H^\]f-  Horizontal  Screen 7,1 

106.  Spinning  Baits  ^97  149.  Current  WTieel. ...  ^J! 

107.  Spinning  Tackle  fci;  LiVe  Baits ' " "  Z  '" '  ^^''^^"'"gy : : : : ' ' ""- 

108.  Feathered  Spoons...  •••^^^ 


407 
411 
413 
415 


151.  Pike-perch.::: ^23 

152.  Spine-rayed  Fishes.::::::::;;'  ■  ■■  tf. 

3071m. 


424 
425 


109.  Fish-hooks..  ^^^ 

110.  Salmon  Flies....; 11^ 

111.  Mounting  Fliei  

112.  ponderaungSLkj;^ ::;:;;; SS  r  r°'-«^'^ •■:"::::::::::  S 

113.  Indian  Summer f  "l  S,^"  !^™^h  and  Dace " '  J^J 

114.  Hammer-headed  Shark Jo'^rl'  ^^  S!"'^  ^"""'^ 4^ 

115.  The  Mackerel ^ 5  .I  S' JY  ^'''' """'""^ "m 

lie.  Shad,  Menhaden,  Herrin..' SlS"  S  ""n  V"^  '^'''""^  ^'^^i'v '  420 

117.  The  Codfish  " '-T    •  ^^^  ^""^  F'lmily  ....  Tor, 

118.  The  John  Do; 329  161.  Flatfish  Family jf 

119.  Whale  Fishing  fl|lC2.  Sharks J..://: 431 

120.  Harpooned  . .   ff 2jl63.  Sturgeon  and  Chimtera 

121.  Striped  Red  Mullet' ; ; ; ^.^fi  ?f-  ^^ay  Family 

122.  A  surprised  Codfish. . . . ;; ^l^'  ^"'^^^  Family 

123.  Morning  '^^1  ^^^-  Gi'euouille :„ 

124.  Ancient  Pish-'culVure': ^3]%'  2:??^  ^""i^on  Eel...:;;;;; 

125.  Modern  Fish-culture  . . . ; ttl^lTo'  ?,"  ^^'"'P^'y 

126.  Cuttle-fish ^.f/^^l-  Estuary  Catfish  and  Sih.rc 

127  History  of  the  Salmon  : : of   I?"  ^^o  short  Sunfish ^^ 

128.  Salmon  Om  and  .Ito'n..: S  -J' p°°^r^ ..'.m 

129.  Salmon  Pry . . .  IH]'^-  ^eol  to  Dry  Lines ....  !^ 

130.  Parr  EightMoutiis  bid:: o"!;!'!"  f^^e.^^^^^s  Iw  Field-sports 

3»d|174.  InvitnUnn  f„  H,„Qi— .' 


432 
432 
433 


434 
436 
437 
440 


|1T4.  Invitation  to  the  Streams. 


463 
466 
477 


i 


paqe 

374 

375 

376 

377 

377 

383 

He  . .  834 

385 

387 

391 

393 

....  397 
....  407 
....  411 
....  413 
....  415 
•  ..416 
....  419 

. ..  419 
...  423 
...  423 
...  424 
. ..  425 
...  420 
...  420 
...  427 
..  428 
..  429 
..  42!) 
..  430 
..  431 
..  432 
..  432 
..  433 

.  433 
.  434 
.  43(i 
.  437 
.  440 
.  442 
.  445 

403 

406 

477 


fJart    I'lxst 


ON    COAST    AJS-D    ESTUARY  FISHI 


WITH 


ROD    ANT>   LINE. 


iL 


ill 
ill 

i! 


FISHING  IN  AMERICAN  WATERS. 


CPIAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERIZATION  OF  FISHES. 

SECTION  FIRST. 

ON  seriously  contem- 
plating the  immensity 
of  the  waters  and  their 
innumerable  inhabit- 
ants, it  is  not  difficult  to 
realize  the  importance 
of  these  branches  of  ma- 
terial  and   animal   na- 
ture, and  I  shall  con- 
sider myself  fortunate 
if  able  to  present  rea- 
sons sufficient  to  induce 
the  employment  of  an 
amount  of  time  at  'ill 
commensurate  witl,  the  prope,-  dividon  of  labor  between  ai^" 
.u,d  water  for  the  pm^ose,  of  health,  wealth,  and  rlert:  .W 

equeathed  to  flsh-kmd  than  to  mankind, bat  "its  first  fam- 

MuZuofn  T^-  ^'"^  ""^  "  P'™''  ^hen  all  the  in- 
habitants of  th.s  planet  were  fishes,  previously  to  the  sublime 
...oment  when  "God  said  'Let  the  dry. land  appear "'tI 
ancents  thought  that  the  illimitable  beautie  T  he  wal 
were  reflected  iu  the  heavens;  hence  thev  .ave  to  thl^r 
s.ellat,ons  the  nan.es  of  fishes.    Thus,  prior^to  the  time  "f 


18 


Fishing  m  American  Waters. 


-nd  south.,,,  ccstellation,  to  mo  " '"'^  '"'  """""•" 
were  „a,ned  after  .heir  favorit  fiah  o'r X  1  "'"'" 
connecting  these  fishes  with  heatli™  ,V  ''S™'''' 

been  evolved  and  handed  down  ?,  "'*'"'  """•"  *•"'• 

the  signs  of  the  .odiaeMe^d  in''. ,"""''  T"  ''"P™-'^' 
of  a  man,  whieh  signs  are     m  ,"""'"^'  "^^  ""^  Agun. 

sailor  and  angler /^d  the  lar™"'™"^  ""'"""'^  "^^  b<«'' 
f"'  of  great  suedes     nn   3  •^"C  """'"  <">"«"»'  or  hope- 
Whether  or  no  this  be  a  Ine,^!   *",  '"'  '"'°''«  "■'  l-"»- 
cieuts  I  have  not  bestovX;    ";;„?•'*'''''  "^  *^  - 
plead  guilty  to  the  woakne,,  Z     v     ?  esam,ning,  but 

fluent  of  good  sport  o,;;r/;t:if"' """,'' ''"''''  "™- 

aoh,  or  bowels,  but  never  T"  i,        *'"  "' ,'"  ""^  ''^''"'  «'»■»-  ' 

Man,  from  h  s  inferior  <,h!       .  f  '"  ""  '«S^  "'•  <■«'• 
"ittle  space  he  app";'       "f, '"?  r"'"'"  ""■'■»"^'  '« -"-h 
wing  to  soar,  conLllate,  w,h  "      '"  "  *"  '"  "'™  "^  " 
Wens;  whiL  the  Zt     "     ^T'"  ""  f^'"'"'«'"S 
beating  the  shoi-es  into  f,.,„  •         "'"'''"'  "«  breakers 

»  elos'e  lines,  and  ifs^ormfr  ""','''  ""'owy  battalions 
Us  soul  with'awe  and  Z  eteTfh  """"'-' P-««™e 
wMeh,  in  comparison,  his  own  is  nothinr"''  """'"■"'«'•  ^" 

"at  It  ,s  not  n,y  intention  to  estima'^;.  ,1 
waters,  or  their  value  for  bi'hir.    '"""'"'''"'  Power  of  the 
«y  object  is  to  show  the  rea^rthn   ""•"""»  P"'^-* 
and  to  convince  him  that  whe  e™    f ""'  °' """""«• 
have  been  made,  the  water,  hi  ,  f  """'"'»'»«e  efforts 

.  his  toil  or  skill  than  thitd  T  . ""  f "  '''''''  P™«'^  '« 
«^nance  of  a  large  ma,  tile  powr'lf  "'™"'^"=  '"«  ""*"'- 
the  experience  of  thp  R.i,   ■   t  ,  "  ™<""'^  of  wealth, 

tively  ilignifiea:'  »  thr:"tZ°""f;  -<•  -"»-- 
proves  that  nothing  is  too  exaLd.^  ?''''*  ""  '^'"^  "">- 
eral  maritime  powe,-  Bn,  T  ,^  '  ''"P'''^  '■™-  ^i'  "  "b" 
the  riches  of  their^habft  \     '     ,'   '"'""'  "''*'>''  """ters  in 

mention,    ^s  ^^L^  re^f ttrr'''  ""'""^  '"^''" 

c^'itc  or  Uhlies,  comparatively  lit- 


Fl6HING   INCLUDES  AnGLING.  IJ) 

tie  is  b^own ;  but  I  feel  assured  that  they  would  rank  higher 
in  the  scale  of  entities"  than  the  fourth  class  of  vertebrate 
animals,  accorded  them  by  Cuvier,  did  all  men  of  thought  hnd 
science  appreciate  and  pursue  fishing. 

Fishing  as  a  term,  is  general;  while  angling  is  a  special 
kind  of  fishing  The  word  angling  is  supposed  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  bend  of  the  hook,  forming  an  angle;  but 
the  ongin  or  antiquity  of  the  term  is  comparatively  unim- 
portant now.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  the  art  of  angling 
requ„.es  as  much  enthusiasm  as  poetry,  as  much  patience  as 
mathematics,  and  as  much  caution  as  housebreaking." 

That  field-sports  were  among  the  earliest  and  most  respect- 
able pastimes  of  the  ancients,  we  have  abundant  evidence 
from  their  poets  and  philosophers,  such  as  Aristotle,  Plato 
Cicero,  and  Horace;  and  that  angling  was  practiced  "with 
much  succ^ess  and  love  of  the  sport  is  evident  from  the  Plali- 
eutics  of  Oppian,  the  only  Greek  poem  iLow  extant  on  this 
subject;  but  we  learn  from  Athena^us  that  several  other 
writers  had  written  treatises  or  poems  upon  fishino-  some 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era. 

"Fishing  was  a  favorite  pastime  of  the  Egyptian  gentle^ 
man  both  in  the  Nile  and  in  the    .acious  '  sluices,  oi  ponds 
for  fish,*  constructed  within  his  grounds,  where  they  were 
fed  for  the  table,  and  where  he  amused  himself  by  anglino-f 
and  the  dexterous  use  of  the  bident,  a  two-pronged  spear  for 
striking  two  fish  at  a  time.     These  favorite  occupations  were 
not  confined  to  young  persons,  nor  thought  unworthy  of  men 
of  serious  habits ;  and  an  Egyptian  of  rank,  and  of  a  certain 
age,  IS  frequently  represented  in  the  sculptui^s  catching,  fish 
ma  canal  or  lake,  with  the  line,  or  spearing  them  as^they 
glided  past  the  bank.     Sometimes  the  angler  posted  himself 
m  a  shady  spot  by  the  water's  edge,  and,  having  ordered  his 
servants  to  spread  a  mat  upon  the  ground,  sat  upon  it  as  he 
threw  his  hne;  and  some,  with  higher  notions  of  comfort' 
used  a  chair,  as  '  stout  gentlemen'  now  do  in  punts.     Thp  rnd 

*  Isaiah  xix.,  ]0.  *  t    •  i.    . 

t  Isaiah  XIX. .  8. 


20 


Fi8HiNG  IN  American  Wateks. 


In; 


Au  Egyptian  geiUlemau  liaiiiug. 

was  short,  and  apjjarently  of  one  mpoo  •  *hr.  v 

<r\e  thono-h  i,.ofo  *  piece,  the  hne  usually  sin- 

,ie,  though  instances  occur  of  a.  double  line  each  with  I. 

t'.o  paintings  ^o^.r^^lTl^Z:^',:':  "'''''''""'  '"' 
that  they  ever  put  them  tr.  .1,  .!  ,  '  '  "  ""'  "PPcar 
had  devfse<l  any  aethod  li     ,"      "^'  '""^  '''"  '"^^  '"•■"  ">"y 

sented  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  retaS  s  aloT    ^      ''  ^"''' 
along  the  streets :  ^''^  ^'''  ^''^"'  ^^''^"'^« 

"Poets  are  nonsense ;  for  they  never  say 
A  single  thing  that's  ne^v.     But  all  they  do 

Is  to  clothe  oldideas  in  language  new  r 
Turmng  the  same  things  o'er  and  o'er  again 
.  ^"d  ;>pside  down.     But  as  to  fishmongers    ' 
The.  re  an  mventive  race,  and  yield  to  none 


ffi 


Beauty  IN  Form  and  Coloeino.  21 

In  sliameless  conduct.     For  as  modern  laws 

Forbid  them  now  to  water  their  stale  fish, 

Some  fellow,  hated  by  the  gods,  beholding 

His  fish  quite  dry,  picks  with  his  mates  a  quarrel. 

And  blows  are  interchanged.     Then  when  one  thinks 

He's  had  enough,  he  falls  and  seems  to  faint. 

And  lies  like  any  corpse  among  his  baskets. 

Some  one  calls  out  for  water ;  and  Lis  partner 

Catches  a  pail,  and  throws  it  o'er  his  friend 

So  as  to  sprinkle  all  his  fish,  and  make 

The  world  believe  tliem  newly  caught  and  fresh." 

In  regard  to  propagating  fishes,  the  experiments  of  the  an- 
cients amounted  to  little  more  than  robbing  the  nests  of  her- 
bivorous fishes,  and  planting  the  eggs  in  other  waters ;  but  the 
moderns  have,  within  the  past  thirty  years,  invented  success- 
ul  theories  for  studying  the  habits  of  fishes  at  their  aqueous 
homes,  m  rapid  streams,  or  placid  lakes,  and  deep  down  into 
the  depths  of  old  ocean.     As  these  will  be  explained  in  this 
work  under  their  appropriate  titles  of  ancient  and  modern 
fish  culture,  I  merely  allude  to  them  in  passing  as  havino-- 
through  their  developments  of  the  habits  of  fishes-opened 
up  a  subject  so  attractive  as  to  have  induced  anglers  and 
men  of  science  to  study  more  assiduously  and  minutely  these 
creatures  of  elegant  forms,  whose  colors  vie  with  the  rainbow 
and  reflect  the  hues  of  every  precious  stone.     Se  .  their  scin- 
tillant  scales,  their  metallic  rays,  and  colors  more  beautiful 
than  are  given  to  birds  of  most  favored  plumage !     What 
satin  sheen,  aurora  borealis,  or  heavenly  sunset  «^n  vie  witli 
the  prismatic  colors  of  the  living  trout  or  the  dying«olphin  '^ 
What  gold  so  finely  burnished  as  the  spots  on  the  Spaiiish 
mackerel  ?  or  what  shade  of  carmine  so  brilliant  as  the  spots 
on  a  samlet?    What  so  transcendently  lustrous  and  beau- 
titul  as  a  fresh-run  salmon  ? 

The  Spanish  mackerel,  salmon,  and  bonetta  combine  to 
form  the  models  for  the  speed  and  beauty  of  our  ships 
il-ven  as  far  back  as  the  Revolutionary  War,  one  of  our  ship, 
was  named  "  Bonetta."    In  symmetry  of  form  and  beautiflil 
coloring,  fishes  stand  at  the  head  of  animal  creation 


'J2 


Fishing  in  American  Wateks. 


f   ' 


SECTION  SECOND. 
prerequisites  for  fishing. 
In  o-der  to  pursue  with  success  any  branch  of  fi«i  • 

u^Hn„  18  one  of  the  most  anc  ent  m"thod«  nf  fi.i,: 

and  an  of  the  lllTJ^Znl'  V':.  ™""'  '"  """"> 
which  i^  f}.p  ^n]    •  nothing  to  desire  but  a  barb 

^eSr^ir^r  r;" --h' V"^ -^^^^^^^^^ 

their  food.  •^^eiuiiy  studied.     So  also  should 

"Fish  have  their  various  characters  defined, 
Not  roore  by  coJor  than  by  mind  " 

They  have  their  times  to  eat  and  their  choice  of  food     Th 
tTuL     I  '"""  *"  """"  *'«'  approach  of  a  shovfer 


Appetite  and  Locomotion. 


23 


(luring  a  fall  of  snow  or  rain.     Indeed,  ■   .tnow-storm  seems  to 
improve  the  appetite  of  some  fishes;  and  rains  which  do  not 
render  the  stream  too  turbid,  but  give  to  the  water  a  slight- 
ly-darkened tint,  do  not  injure  it  for  even  fishing  with  the  fly. 
It  is  a  commonly  received  opinion  that  angling  is  not  as 
good  as  usual  during  easterly  winds;  but  this  is  only  true 
when  the  winds  cause  the  tides  to  rise  so  high  on  our  coast 
that  fishes  change  their  feeding-grounds.      Fly-fishing  for 
both  salmon  and  trout  are,  in  some  waters,  best  during  an 
cast  wind.     A  really  windy  day  is  not  good  for  fly-f  shing. 
rhe  gentle,  balmy  breeze,  which  merely  produces  a  catspaw 
ripple  on  the  surface,  and  carries  the  cast  of  flies  out,  so  as  to 
leave  part  of  the  merit  for  their  graceful  and  snow-flake  fall 
to  the  angler  and  the  rod,  under  "  a  sun  of  mild  but  not  too 
bright  a  beam,"  form  a  few  of  the  conditions  which  give  fly- 
fishing its  peculiar  zest.     The  prejudice  against  an  east  wind 
with  the  American  angler  on  the  Atlantic  slope  near  the 
coast  18  probably  caused  by  the  fact  that  an  east  wind  so 
raises  the  tides  along  the  shores,  and  sets  it  back  in  the  estu- 
aries and  creeks,  as  to  cover  shoals  and  islets  of  eel-grass 
This  gives  fishes  a  wider  range  to  forage  and  prospect  over 
shallow  and  weedy  places  for  shrimp,  shedder  and  soft-shell 
crabs,  instead  of  remaining  in  the  tideway  to  watch  for  bait 
carried  along  by  the  current. 

To  converse  intelligibly  about  fishes,  it  is  necessary  to 
know  the  names  of  their  fins,  for  these  give  the  means  of  lo- 
comotion ;  and  though  this  work  is  not  intended  as  a  school- 
book,  or  to  be  especially  scientific,  yet,  as  all  retfflilers  of  fish- 
stones  should  know  enough  of  a  fish  to  name  fte^ns  I  pre- 
sent on  the  following  page  the  form  of  a  fish,  with  the  names 
of  them. 

The  propulsive  power  of  a  fish  is  its  tail  or  caudal  fin 
The  pectorals  and  ventrals  assist  a  little  in  speed,  but  more 
especially  in  turning  and  diving,  while  the  anal  and  dorsals 
serve  as  centre-boards  to  a  ship,  to  prevent  leeway  and  beino- 
easily  capsized.     Of  rapid  swimmers  in  the  American  water^ 


Ill 


i\  ; 


I  ' 


I 


24: 


Fishing  in  American  Wateks. 


ii  'DorsaJ 


^■ed  the  swiftest  of  the  forkelt 'n»    h     ,      "'?'  '■"■"  '"""''^- 

so.he™e.„r;r;Lii!-tr:i;zr--^"^ 

SECTION  TIIIBD. 

ia.-ge  pans:?e:::  e,^f:.o':r;:a  t:[.k""  r """ '""' 

though  the  Chinese  had  uiKlerstood  fish  ouU 

'«»«,'■  a,„,  M.  OdK.,,,  of  thtvLl  ^    ]^r"T"*"'  "•'■  «"■ 
vato  fish  hv  ...tififi.  I  ,„.;        .-^    '  '  ^"""^"'^og^n  to  clti- 

differenee  i'         "     ,  '  o^  flT'""-     '''^'  """  ■"'""■  '"="  ""• 
vcrsity  of  thd    hi,        S  "  "  ","  ="™''^'-  "'""  «  ^'"^  <'!• 


The  Value  of  a  Teak.  25 

others  bottom  fish,  like  the  flounders  and  the  flat-fish  fiimily  ; 
some  prefer  a  sandy  bottom,  as  the  kingfish,  others  a  rocky^ 
as  the  striped  bass;  and  yet  others  rejoice  in  mud,  as  the  eels 
and  catfish,  with  the  rest  of  the  silurus  family.    Some  fish 
prefer  salt  water,  others  fresh,  and  yet  others  brackish ;.  while 
eels  prefer  to  spawn  in  salt  water  and  fatten  in  fresh,  as  pal- 
pably as  do  salmon  pursue  the  opposite  by  feeding  in  gait 
water  and  spawning  in  fresh.    Thus  salmon,  shad,  and  striped 
bass  prefer  to  feed  in  salt  water,  spawn  in  fresh,  and  dally  in 
brackish  waters.     Some  fishes  keep  near  shore,  others  in  deep 
water  and  for  from  land.    Bottom  fishes  are  usually  sluggish, 
while   surface   swimmers   are  generally  active.     Som^losJ 
then-  vitality  as  soon  as  they  are  landed,  others  live  a  long 
time  out  of  water,  and  dart  revengeful  glances  at  their  cap- 
tors.     Some  can  creep  like  the  eel,  others  climb  trees  like  the 
anabas  scandens. 

I  may  also  state  my  conviction  that  a  whale  is  a  fish,  and 

that  the  porpoise  is  also  a  fish,  though  members  of  this  genm 

travel  in  pairs,  suckle  their  young,  of  which  they  usually  liave 

but  one  at  a  birth,  wliicli  the  parent  mammals  guard  with 

jealous  care,  making  it  swim  between  them;  and  if  the  calf 

is  harpooned,  the  mother  always  yields  her  life  an  easy  prey 

to  tlw  same  weapon.     The  dudong,  one  of  the  must  intelli- 

gent  of  mammal  fishes,  is  the  Malays'  emblem  of  constancy 

m  affection ;  and  as  it  is  said  to  cry  when  wounded  by  the 

harpoon  and  brought  on  deck,  they  catch  the  tears  and  bottle 

them  as  a  charm,  supposing  that  the  application  of  a  single 

drop  will  render  a  wife  constant  for  life. 

The  black  porpoise  and  the  puffing  i>orpus  are  great  con- 
sumers of  estuary  fishes.  Tlu-y  should  not  only  be  hunted 
and  harpooned,  but  small  cannon  loaded  with  grape  or  canis- 
ter should  be  so  planted  as  to  project  their  contents  into  the 
shoals  which  attempt  to  forage  near  bassing  grounds.  Por- 
poises  watch  mouths  of  rivers  for  salmon,  and  they  are  sup- 
posed to  be  the  lu-incipal  cause  of  depoi.nlating  manv  of  tJie 
Irish  rivers  of  that  royal  fish. 


m 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


!  ! 


pofpot:  IZt  t:t^'  "'■"■^^  "y  -■"■  «-^  '•»'  every 

estnarics  should  adonf  »  ■!?„    I  °^  "'"'  """s'  and 

away.     The  plotcis  olt  ';:,^^P'""".S  ^^  •Jiving  them 
capture  a,  itrofl  k  th    «  ""  "o*'  VoAtaWe  Ashe,  for 

SECTION  FOURTH. 

ON  VISION   IN   FISHES. 


scicuoe  and  the  ».^ler  loZ  "'"^^"■'*'"  *»  'he  man  of 
both,m„re  than dTt  „ IXTd  "if  '"'"''  ^"™»'» "^ed 
devoured,  and  to  aid  thenTin  .  T  ""  '"""''  *"  ""^^  being 
fl^hes;  for  their  fortifieatLs  arT  7"^-  ™'  """"""S  "the! 
obliged  to  leave  ^.TZ,Z7       7^'"' ''^'^ '^<>y -^-^ 

farther  than^  tolo,  t  If"""  """"  "™<='P'-  "^  -ence 
".otives  by  ^^JZy'.T::ZZVf''''  °'"*^'  ""> 

»--.her„.ith„;n"j.— Cl'tr^^^^^^^^ 


EouND  Eyes  detect  Motion,  not  Foem.  27 

erally  taken  by  the  angler  while  they  are  foraging  for  food. 
When  salmon  or  trout  rise  to  feed,  they  may  always  be  taken 
with  a  well-made  artificial  fly,  presented  to  them  gently  and 
artistically. 

The  form  of  the  eyes  of  almost  all  fishes  proves  them  to  be 
near-sighted.     All  animals  with  very  c  mvex  eyes  quickly  de- 
tect the  slightest  motion,  but  lack  the  power  to  discriminate 
form.     Hence  a  deer,  with  its  full  lustrous  eye,  will  approach 
any  still  form  to  within  a  few  feet  of  it,  but  at  the  first  move- 
ment it  bounds  away  like  the  wind.     In  addition  to  the  eyes 
of  fishes  being  convex,  the  density  of  the  water— as  a  medium 
through  which  they  see— rathor  shortens  than  extends  vision. 
"The  vision  must  also  be  farther  limited  from  the  eye  beino- 
covered  with  the  common  skin  of  the  head  to  protect  the  eye^ 
ball;  and  as  they  have  no  eyelids,  of  course  the  eyes  never 
close ;  and,  whether  sleeping  or  waking,  their  vision  must  be 
mdistinct."    White,  of  Selborne,  states  that  eyes  of  fishes  are 
immovable ;  but  it  is  known  that  those  of  the  silver  and  gold 
fishes  m  glass  cases  turn  in  their  sockets  as  occasion  requires 
and  that,  while  they  take  little  notice  of  a  lighted  candle,  they 
will  dart  and  appear  much  terrified  if  their  glass  house  is 
touched.     As  fishes  have  no  eyelids,  it  is  difficult  to  discern 
the  difference  between   their  sleeping  and  waking  hours 
That  they  do  not  always  sleep  in  the  night  is  proven  by  the 
many  instances  when  trout  have  been  taken  by  risino-  to  the 
artificial  white  miller  in  total  darkness.     M.  de  Blainville  at- 
tributes  the  greatest  distinctness  of  vision  to  migratory  fishes 
because  he  states  their  eyes  are  the  largest;  but,  instead  of 
tliat  being  so,  the  cod  is  about  the  only  migratory  fish  which 
lias  larger  eyes  than  the  general  run  of  river  fishes  while 
those  with  eyes  of  moderate  size,  such  as  the  genmPerca  and 
those  of  the  ^almo  genus,  give  indications  of  better  Sight  than 
most  sea  fishes.     Anglers  of  great  experience  and  acknowl- 
edged judgment  select  baits,  whether  live  minnows,  or  such 
artificial  lures  as  flies,  squids,  etc.,  whicli  contrast  stronfflv 
with  the  water  and  the  color  of  the  clouds.     Wliat  angler 


If 


I 


II    II 


28 


Fishing  in  Amebican  Watoib. 


*t::^t:-rrr:ir^^^  7  ?"""=  «>-  -  -^^'■ 

water  ,,vhether  by  a  ship  sel?  1.  '"  '"''  "P°"  *''" 

ory  by  ,bc  anecdote  tbat  ,L,.  T       ."^   ™"'  "*'"''»  ""^■ 

■  Street  from  „„e  of  ,1,      ,  I,  '  '"'"'"  ™"''"«  »P  Bon,l 

ago,  .ai.,  a  ««    t^e'l^"^  "'"'  ™  '"^riou^erso,,. 

"■ '» wall,  a,^,  that  t,; ,  :^:~,rv.''r  '"^™'=^' 

street  he  lilted.     When  thev  I.        ^  ''''""''  "''''■  <'*'"'o 

had  not  seen  one,  wh  "theTtife   T^  "'  ""  """  ""  ''""^^ 
explanation  was  that   h!      °"«";  ^ad  eonnted  thirteen.    The 

knowing  that  eats  ^efer   "r™  f^V'"  "'""'>  *' 
"Salmonia,"  gives  tirlllo  ^^  •  ^'^  H'™P'"-y,  in  his 

«"ng..  "  Wl  eb  en  :l::X       "\'r'''''="'^  ^*  "■ 
baeks  to  the  s„n,  whieh  2  w  ?  '    *"'°  *'">  y™'' 

shadows  of  yonr  elv  s  and' o  ^''«  7^  '''«'>'  '»^  "'rown  the 
have  ala^ed  thefisirXne™  ,  °"  "'"  ''''"'  »"''  y°" 

-e  I  have  fished  wt  m^ ^  ^VXtl     """  ' '^^   ^"" 
■neonvenieneed  by  the  lii,  1  '  *""' ™d,  though 

James  Rennie  if  A  f  ^'  f'  .®'™"  ""  "'"■■»■•" 
of  fishes  prZtffeilav  of  """'"'''"'""'  '"  '"^  "-»" 
the  flshes\ro  so  weU  v3  "  T""  ""«'"■'  ^>''"'  *"-- 
ha.-  flies  as  to  reft,  e "tie  "o  "  "  ■'""'  '''"■"''  "^ ?»••''<="- 
tienhu-  days,  and  even  t  V^  '"  '"""^  """""'  ''"<'  ""  P"'- 
" Nothing'.  „T  no"  1  ?"'  P"™''^  "'"'»  '"""^  <3ay- 
vors.a.  thongh  it  be  .ronT''"""'  "'""  ""'''  »  '""i^-""!- 

'h.V  theory  1s  ^ut,  d  „/      ,,"?  .T 1"^ ''"^'''"  =  ^"^ 
is  to  be  acconnted  for  on\r  /•    f'"'»'°Phy.  hnt  the  result 

Daniell  state    "th'e  "^  '^"^'-™"*  P™eiple." 

a  eonsiderab      ,i3an       a^rth^'T  "' ""^  «*- seein. 
that  are  .leeeived  b^d  ffc™  t  h  't™  "'  """"^  °'  "'™- 

their  food,  give.,  room  fo  !     ^TF""'^'"''^  '"  ™'«^«<>n  »f 
distinctly  ;?reeived';;  .t^.r:  ^.tr "  "^  ""'  -'>■ 


Gay  Colors  the  most  ArrKACTivE. 


29 


Light  seems  peculiarly  attractive  to  fishes,  as  proven  by 
their  surrounding  a  diving-bell  with  a  light  in  it.  Walter 
Scott,  in  his  Guy  Mannering,  describes  the  plan  adopted  in 
Scotland  for  attracting  fishes  by  grates  of  living  coal,  or 
torches  carried  by  the  fishermen  as  they  wade  shallow 
streams  for  'lo  purpose  of  spearing.  When  a  fish  is  thus 
discovered,  it  remains  fascinated  by  the  glare  of  light,  sel- 
dom makes  an  effort  to  escape,  and  is  easily  speared.  This 
is  one  Of  the  many  devices  by  which  the  Indians  and  vagrant 
whites  kill  the  salmon  and  trout  while  on  their  spawning- 
beds,  both  in  Maine  and  in  the  dominion  of  Canada. 

The  Chinese  catch  fish  by  employing  two  narrow  boats, 
with  a  board  painted  white  and  varnished  nailed  to  them,  so 
as  to  slope  outward  and  almost  touch  the  water,  and  so  as 
to  reflect  the  light  of  the  moon.  Toward  these  boats  the  fish 
<lart,  and,  falling  on  them,  are  caught  with  ease. 

From  the  pretended  imitations  of  baits  and  flies  for  cap- 
turing fishes  may  be  logically  deduced  the  fact  that  fish  are 
near-sighted,  and  do  not  perceive  with  great  distinctness  any 
minute  object,  however  near  to  them.  The  most  successful 
artificial  baits  to  troll  with  for  the  fishes  of  our  lakes  and 
rivers  are  thus  arranged :  a  pair  of  hooks  disguised  by  a  few 
gaudy  feathers— bright  red  and  white  being  the  most  suc- 
cessful colors— and  at  the  shank  of  the  hook  is  placed  a  piece 
of  silver,  brass,  or  copper,  of  oval  or  diamond  shape,  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  revolve  rapidly,  and  appear  as  little  like  any 
thing  living  in  or  out  of  the  Avater  as  possible.  What  is 
known  as  the  common  "  spoon,"  made  with  swivels,  and  a 
shoulder  on  the  shank  of  he  hook,  so  as  to  revolve  rapidly 
by  drawing  it  through  the  water,  is  frequently  a  more  capti- 
vating lure  than  a  live  fish.  In  trolling  for  bluefish,  a  piece 
of  lead  or  bone  five  inches  long  forms  a  more  successful  lure 
than  the  sea-shhior  which  is  its  principal  sustenance ;  and  a 
piece  of  pearl,  five  inches  long  by  half  an  inch  in  diameter, 
either  round  or  oval,  is  the  most  attractive  troll  for  Spanish 
mackerel ;  while  a  plain  piece  of  red  flannel,  attached  to  a 


f    ) 
j     i 


'  11 


i!  P 


Mi 


iff!' 

1!. 


SO 


Fishing  in  American  Watkrs. 


fcli  for  a  livelihood  ^  "'"' '""''"»  *"  Wuefish,  who 

Of  eo„r.e  tlfe  rod  b  rtr^t  T""-''  ''•'""  "'^  ^''■■'■''''••>^'' 
-n  on  t..e  w,.te™tf  TZ^^Z^^  T1  '"'-* 
resulted  fi-om  the  frequent  rice,  .J,  ''"  •■wloption 

fi»l.i"g  with  buit.     I    !.  ce  :  "■"  '"  ""•'  '■"<'  «°"'  ^>">ife 

willing  to  ri,k  hi    reputat:^,™"""'^'  ^  "*'"  '"«  ''»  ''""■■•I 
*«  a  red  float  is  t  fe   '  ^'1        r"'  ""'"'"'•  "''O"  "'--^ting 
gcoran,  regarded trXTtrr"'""^-    ^"""'^^ 
-1  cafirice  of  theirs  while  on  a  ;t     Z  T   "  "  "■'''"'^'- 
Judge  Philo  T.  Ku2<-Ies  a„d  M.t-  '  '"'»>=™i-,  with 

fly-fi.l>ersi„  the  stale     Cy^onAd"',?"  """"^  "'»  "« 
trout  by  oftering  them  a  L  T        1   '"  '""'  "'<=  ''»'"=y  »f 
bought  a  ml  ibfs  of  a  ta.id  fj';     t'"'"""?'^'  ^''-  J''™ 
to  make  it  into  flies.    T  e  ^I    ir'  ""'""^'^"  "  %-*y«- 
tyor,  who  w-as  presented  wira,ro:,;""r'  '""  '""  «>- 
.io.e„,  actually  n.ade  n.oney    „o"„h  bvTh        ,  "  ^-P'"  "'" 


The  Aktificial  Dkagon- 


FLY. 


Dessert  for  Salmon  and  Trout. 


^i 


of  a  claret  body,  brown  mallard  wing,  and  tail  of  the  top-knot 
from  the  golden  plieasant ;  or  the  blue  professor,  with  blue 
silk  body  and  dark  gray  wings. 

With  the  following  remarks  from  a  clever  writer  on  an- 
gling in  the  Encycloptedia  Britannica,  and  a  few  comments  on 
them,  I  shall  dismiss  the  subject  of  the  vision  in  fishes: 

"  It  may  be  asked  upon  what  principle  of  imitative  art  the 
different  varieties  of  salmon-fly  can  bo  supposed  to  bear  the 
most  distant  resemblance  to  any  species  of  dragon-fly,  to  im- 
itate which  we  are  frequently  told  .that  they  are  intended  ?" 

The  reader  will  please  compare  the  artificial  dragon-fly 
with  a  true  copy  of  a  natural  one  on  the  following  plate  of 
natural  salmon  and  trout  flies : 


Amehioan  Neeve-winoki)  Insects,  tiatural  size.    1.  Common  Dr-trni.  flv    o  ti,„  a 

Of  the  dissimilarity  of  the  artificial  lures  to  the  natural 
ones,  the  same  may  be  generally  said  and  prove  true,  whether 


I 


li 


M 


! 


•32 


Fishing  m  American  Waters. 


tor  salmon,  trout,  maskinongo,  pickerel,  black  bass,  blucfish 
Spanish  mackerel,  and  all  other  surface  feeders.  Besides  t  J 
pretended  imitations  are  used  several  months  earlier  in' the 
year  than  nature  produces  their  originals;  thus,  while  the 
hues  almon-fishmg  m  Europe  is  during  the  spring  months, 
the  diagon-fly  is  a  summer  insect,  and  rarely  makes  its  ap 
pearance  until  Juno.  ^  ^ 

If  artificial  flies  have  no  resemblance  to  natural  ones  «  how 
much  more  unlike  must  they  be  when,  instead  of  being  swept 
down  by  the  current,  as  a  real  one  would  be,  the  artificial  fly 
•s  seen  crossmg  and  recrossing  every  stream  and  torrent  with 
^e  agihty  of  an  otter  and  the  strength  of  an  alligator^ 
^^ow  as  It  ,s  demonstrable  that  the  artificial  fly  ge,rerallv 
used  for  salmon  bears  no  resemblance,  except  in  Le,  to  any 
Iivmg  one;  that  the  only  tribe  which  it  may  be  supposed  to 
represent  does  not  exist  in  the  winged  state  durin/I  pe 
nod  when  the  imitation  is  most  generally  and  most  success- 
u  ly  used;  and  if  they  did,  their  habits  and  natural  powers 
totally  prevent  them  from  being  at  any  time  seen  under  such 
circumstances- as  would  give  a  color  to  the  supposition  of 
the  one  being  even  mistaken  for  the  other,  may  we  not  fairlv 
conclude  that,  in  this  instance  at  least,  the  fish  proceed  upon 
other  grounds,  and  are  deceived  by  an  appearance  of  life  Ld 
motion  rather  than  by  a  specific  resemblance  to  any  thino- 
which  they  had  previously  been  in  the  habit  of  capturino- v 
^^  hat  natural  insect  do  the  large  flies  and  spoons  It  which 
sea  trout,  lake  trout,  black  bass,  etc.,  bite,  resemble  ?    These 
us  well  as  salmon,  frequently  take  the  lure  far  within  thJ 
bounds  of  salt-water  mark,  and  yet  materialists  know  that  no 

inhabits  the  sea     What  species  are  represented  by  the  palm-  . 
cr,  or  by  three  fourths  of  the  dressed  flies  in  use  ?    An  arti- 
ftcial  fly  can,  at  the  best,  be  considered  only  as  the  represent- 
ative of  a  natural  one  which  has  been  drowned,  as  it  is  im- 
possible to  imitate  the  dancing  or  hovering  flight  of  the  in 
sect  over  the  surflice  of  the  stream,  and,  even  with  that  re- 


Most  Fishes  ake  Short-sighted. 


38 


atricted  idea  of  its  resemblance  to  nature,  the  likeness  must 
be  scarcely  perceptible,  owing  to  the  difference  of  motion  and 
the  great  variety  of  directions  in  which  the  angler  draws  his 
flies,  according  to  the  nature  and  locality  of  the  current  and 
the  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind." 

The  sight  of  fishes  is  like  laat  of  all  animals  with  round 
and  convex  eyes.  .  If  the  angler  will  stand  quite  still  in  the 
water,  fish  will  not  fear  to  congregate  about  him,  or  to  flap 
his  legs  with  their  fins ;  but  with  his  slightest  motion  they 
dart  to  their  hiding-places.     The  convexity  of  the  eye  pro- 
duces short-sightedness  in  man  as  well  as  in  quadrupeds, 
birds,  and  fishes.     The  round  eye  is  inferior  to  the  almond- 
shaped  for  distinguishing  form :  thus  round-eyed  animals  and 
fishes  mistake  a  man  for  an  inanimate  object,  and,  from  their 
shortness  of  vision,  approach  him  without  fear.     These  gen- 
eral and  specific  reasons  convince  me  that  fishes  are  short- 
sighted, and  that,  while  quick  to  detect  action,  they  are  slow 
to  distinguish  form. 

SECTION  FIFTH. 

ON     TASTE     IN     FISHES. 

The  sense  of  taste  in  both  birds  and  fishes,  which  subsist 
on  similar  food,  is  less  acute  than  in  other  animals,  a  circum- 
stance strongly  indicated  by  the  hard,  gristly  texture  of  the 
tongue  when  it  exists,  which  it  may  scarcely  be  said  to  do 
m  all  fishes,  though  it  is  very  distinct  in  the  CypHnidce,  and 
rather  less  so  in  the  genus  Salmo. 

Dr.  Rennie  states  that  numerous  experiments  made  by  him 
on  birds  T  'lose  food  consists  of  small  fruit  and  insects,  which 
they  swallow  without  breaking,  leads  him  to  conclude  that 
they  choose  some  and  reject  others,  not  by  taste,  but  by 
touch,  probably  aided  by  smell;  and  he  adds,  "I  have  no 
doubt  It  is  the  same  with  fishes;  at  least  it  is  obvious,  from 
their  so  generally  swallowing  their  food  without  chewing  or 
bruising  it,  that,  even  if  they  possessed  acute  taste,  it  could 
not  aid  them  in  the  discrimination." 

C    . 


34 


FiSinNG  IN  Amekicjuj  Wateks. 


furnished  to  g.ve  U  a  more  acute  taste  for  preventing  it  from 
being  p„,soned  by  eating  water  hemlock,  or  other  deleterious 
plants  as  it  .s  known  to.feed  on  water-plants.  That  all  fish 
are  not  thus  provided  with  taste  sufliciently  acute  to  !nab  e 

fToal"'"*  "'"*  "  P™""""^'  ""P"^™  ^™-  '"«  1-ct  e 

Irof  r^ '"  r'°"'"«  *""  '^  p^^^^^^g  a„d  miki„g » 

fnt\  1,      f      f ' '"'  ^'""^""  '■*«.  -  'i-^b  tl'ey  form 
mto  balls  about  the  size  of  peas  and  east  into  the  water 

,  Z  I  T"""'  ''"'''  »""•  ^<"""^"'S  iutoxicated  o 
palsied  thereby,  float  to  the  surface  of  the  w^ter  and  are  ea" 
ly  canght,  or  soon  die.  Chub  and  dace  are  ready  victims 
to  this  device,  as  are  also  the  black  bass,  Osweso  yellow 
white,  rock  and  all  the  varieties  of  lake  aM  river  te  I^ 
IS  always  dangerous  to  purchase  fish  out  of  season  any 
where;  but  residents  of  cities  should  be  especially  careful 
who  hey  purchase  from,  and  the  safest  houses  ai-e  those  which 
deal  'argely  with  fishing  firms  of  established  reputation. 

Teeth  of  fishes  appear  destined  more  especially  for  layin.. 
hold  and  detaining  their  prey  than  for  chewing.  With  tM, 
view  they  ai-e  bent  inward,  like  tenter-hooks,  lo  that  fish 
howsoever  small  and  slippeiy,  are  forced  backinto  the  gu  -' 
le  ,  and  their  escape  or  return  prevented.  It  is  no  doubt 
with  the  same  design  that  the  throats  of  many  fish  Istd 

tteth'"  Sul  rn''-  ^7  ''•^'™^"'  '^™^  a'pavemLt  :■ 
teeth.     Such  fishes  as  have  teeth  thus  placed  far  back  on  the 

palate  and  upper  part  of  the  throat,  while  in  their  jaws  they 

have  none,  are  termed  by  anglers  " leather-moutLd,"  b.I 

technically  malaeoslomata. 
Anglers  of  the  British  Isles  reckon  among  tt.  princinal  of 

eather-mouthed  fishes  the  minnow,  gudgL,  rL".  To  c  , 
bleak,  chub,  daces,  barbel,  bream,  rud,  tench,  cL-p,  ani  other 
minor  fishes.     The  salmon  and  the  pike  have  tU  in  tl 
jaws  and  in  all  parts  of  the  mouth,  and  the  perch  in  all  parts 
of  the  mouth  except  the  tongue.     The  sturgeon  and  sucker 
agam,  have  no  teeth  whatever.  ' 


Bony  and  Leather  Mouths. 


35 


The  division  of  anglers'  fishes  into  such  as  are  and  such  as 
are  not  leather-mouthed  may  be  important  to  the  young  an- 
gler, as  diflferent  management  is  required  in  playing  each. 
Old  anglers  considered  such  fishes  leather-mouthed  as  have 
their  teeth  in  the  throat.    Hooks  seldom  part  their  hold  from 
the  mouths  of  such  fishes,  which  are  not  generally  regarded 
as  gamy,  though  good  sport  for  ladies  and  youth.     But  the 
contrary  is  the  case  with  the  striped  bass,  squeteague,  pick- 
erel, maskinonge,  perch,  and  most  game  fishes  which  are 
white-meated.     These  have  a  bony  mouth,  and  not  much 
flesh  or  skin  to  hold  a  hook;  therefore  you  are  never  sure 
of  landing  these  fish  unless  you  play  them  so  lightly  as  not 
to  permit  them  a  foot  of  slack  line,  except,  perchance,  they 
have  gorged  the  hook. 

That  water-grasses  and  some  other  plants  are  partly  the 
food  of  leather-mouthed  fishes,  especially  of  the  carp  c/enus, 
is  unquestionable ;  and  in  the  Orient  herbivorous  fishes  are' 
considered  the  most  delicate  and  highly  prized.     But  when 
they  feed  on  liver,  brewers'  grains,  boiled  barley,  split  peas, 
and  the  like,  they  probably  mistake  these  for  the  eggs  or  co- 
coons of  water  animals,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  procure  a 
supply  of  these  except  by  rare  accident.     That  some  fish  may 
feed  on  the  seeds  of  such  plants  as  are  scattered  about  the 
water  is  not  improbable,  and  it  may  have  been  from  observ- 
ing this  that  it  is  recommended  by  Lebault  and  Debraw,  aft- 
er removing  the  fish  to  let  fish-ponds  dry,  to  sow  them  with 
oats  or  other  grain,  and,  when  it  is  ripe,  to  let  the  water 
again  into  the  pond,  and  bring  back  the  fish  to  feed.    Bowlker 
remarks  that  carp  will  eat  barley,  wheat,  or  oaten  bread, 
while  tench  and  perch  will  not  touch  it.     Of  course  perch 
prefer  meats  to  vegetable  diet;  but  as  the  tench  differs  with 
the   carp  upon  vegetable  diet,  both  being  vegetarians,  it 
proves  that  fishes  have  discriminative  tastes. 

Most  leather-mouthed  fishes  like  both  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal diet,  and  the  carp  is  said  to  devour  young  eels,  frog- 
spawn,  fish-roe,  and  young  fishes,  including  its  own  specie's, 


36 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


kind  of  fish  from  tl^e  mnmo w  to  the  Halmon ;  every  thin.,  that 
hves  and  moves  bein,  swallowed  without-;o  far'as  ha:been 
lectionT   ^^  discrimination  of  species  or  much  nicety  of  se- 

8ECTI0N  SIXTH. 

ON   SMELL   IN   FISHES. 

bi'L"^ ':,  '"'  ""'"""''  '"  ™'"^<l-'<"y  connected  wi.h 
b  eatl„ng,and  wo  ean  not  easily  conceive  how  »moIl  is  pro- 
Jueed  except  by  a  current  of  air,  in  wlaich  odoriferous  parU 
cks  are  diff„sed,pas.ing  through  a  moistened  chan      ,as'w 
so  admirably  described  by  Schneider  two  hundred  years  ago 
but  m  fishes  wh.ch  do  not  breathe,  smell  ean  not  be  thus  pro^ 

fus  1  d  """•  •'^"'"'  ""'""'' ''  '^  S-d  '^  -'J'""'  ford  f 
fusng  odors  as  air,  and  there  is  the  less  necessity  for  a  cur- 
rent of  th.s  being  produced  through  the  nostrils,  al  fish  move 
about  so  constantly  through  the  water.  Their  nostrils,  tter^ 
fore,  are  generally  large,  but  imperforate  backward  •  that  ! 
they  do  not  communicate  with  the  throat;  but  in  so^e  fishes 

space  mto  the  mouth,  and  through  this  a  current  of  water 
may  probably  run.     M.  Dumeril  and  the  Rev.  W.  B  DitTi 
hmk  that,  from  the  structure  of  the  nostril  and  the  want  of 
an  aenal  medmm  for  odors,  fishes  can  not  smell  atTand 
that  the,r  nostnls  perform  a  function  similar  to  taste-  b^t "o 
a  late  professor  of  .oology  i„  King's  College,  London  lis 
upposmon  appear,  improbable.     From  all'that  I  ha"; 
covered,  I  fee   confident  that  a  majority  of  anglers  and  m  „ 
of  scenee  beheve  that  smell  in  fishes  is  quite  paLble     Smell 
.ng  substances  for  enticing  fish  to  the  hook  are   eeommLd  d 
by  too  many  honorable  names  to  leave  a  shadow  o"do„U 
upon  the  subject.     Walton,  for  example,  reeommeLs  numer 
0U8  strong-smelling  pastes  for  .attraetLg  fish  to  the  bait  sit 
.ng  that  "old  Oliver  Henley,  now  with!  God,  a  noted  fit; 


Composition  Baits. 


37 


botli  for  trout  and  salmon,"  contended  in  favor  of  acuteness 
in  the  smell  of  fishes.  In  an  old  volume  on  "  The  Secrets  of 
Angling,"  by  J.  Davors,  publxshed  in  1813,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"To  bless  thy  bait  and  make  the  fish  to  bite, 
Lo!  here's  n  means,  if  thou  canst  hit  it  right: 
Take  gum  of  life,  well  beat  and  laid  to  soak 
In  oil  well  drawn  of  ivy  which  kills  the  oak. 
Fish  where  thou  wilt,  thou  shalt  have  sport  tlij-  fill ; 
When  others  fail,  thou  shalt  be  sure  to  kill. " 

M.  Chars,  who  was  apothecary  to  Louis  XIV.,  composed  a 
perfume  which  attracted  all  kinds  of  fresh-water  fishes  by  the 
use  of  cat's  fat,  heron's  grease,  the  best  asafoetida,  Egyptian 
mummy  finely  powdered,  aniseed,  camphor,  galbanum,  Ven- 
ice turpentine,  and  civet.  These  he  made  into  the  consist- 
ence of  thin  ointment  by  means  of  oil  of  lavender,  of  aniseed, 
and  camomile,  which  may  be  preserved  for  a  year  or  two  if 
kept  where  the  air  is  excluded.  The  bait  and  about  eight 
inches  of  line  are  directed  to  be  anointed  with  this  to  attract 
fish. 

Of  the  numerous  scented  baits  recommended,  Walton  Avrote 
in  favor  of  petroleum,  and  Daniell  suggested  that  tar  is  most 
attractive  in  the  composition  of  a  scented  ointment  for  bait. 
But  the  most  fascinating  of  such  pastes  for  fresh-water  fishes  is 
that  composed  of  the  roe  of  salmon ;  and  I  should  be  opposed 
to  its  use  if  millions  of  salmon-eggs  were  not  annually  wasted 
along  most  of  the  salmon  rivers ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that, 
by  the  means  of  science,  some  successful  theory  may  soon  be 
adopted  for  turning  this  seed  into  the  waters  to  restock  them, 
for  it  is  morally  revolting  to  an  angler  to  contemplate  the 
great  loss  by  the  depletion  of  the  waters  from  the  waste  of 
ova.    While  the  wholesale  waste  continues,  those  w^ho  desire 
to  make  bait  from  the  roe  of  fishes  should  sprinkle  it  with 
salt,  and  then  put  it  down  in  a  pot  in  alternate  layers  with 
wool.     Rev.  W.  B.  Daniell  advised  the  taking  of  a  pound  of 
roe  in  September,  and,  after  boiling  it  fifteen  minutes,  beat  it 
in  a  mortar  until  sufticiently  mixed  with  an  ounce  of  salt  and 


38 


V  1 
I!  I 


I.    18'      " 


i 


r 


I 


1 


FisniNG  IN  American  Watkks. 


an  ounce  of  saltpetre,  the  membrane  in  whieh  the  spawn  i, 
ontamed  being  eareful.y  pieked  out;  it  i.  then  pSed  i 

that  tjr""^  """^  ™<^  of  »"«=■•  fl*es  would  do  as  well  a. 

1   he tiefir  r"  '^.^"™°-'''—  «-  -ell,  which 
.ecms  the  chief  attraction,  is  quite  similar.     A  paste  made  i„ 

Z  TT  ™'^f°"'  ^"^"^^  ^""'"1-  '^  ="-  att™     ve     Mu" 
Tf  thetoC"  ■""'  "'™'  "'"^'  *™-y  -  --^« 

speettr™:u'i'flV''"r"' ""  °"""'  ''^'=^''™«'  ^-^^  - 

the  I  erfesTf       n        ',       """'""'^  "^  *'  ''"'"I  P''--  "-' 

le  fact  It  fiT    ""  Z"°'  "'"'  *'""  <'^*'"'"^"'  inclusively 
the  lact  that  fishes  are  gifted  with  tlie  sense  of  smell. 

SECTION  SEVENTH. 
OM  IIEAEING  IN  PISHES. 

^^n^.::is-----:-^ 

«  ""wal:.""-"'  '-^'"^^  '"  verse-"harped  a  flsh  out":' 
^Han  tells  us  that  the  chad  is  allured  by  the  sound  of 
cas^nets  and  in  Germany  they  take  these  /sh  s  wU    net 
to  which  bows  of  wood  hung  with  little  bells  are  attaeWl 

i:d '  Tr";: '° ""™"  -■  '-™™y  ->-' »"» ™ 

moved.  These  fish,  it  is  stated,  will  not  ittnm^t  ♦ 
■•vhile  the  bells  continue  to  rin-^  OnTi  r  7  *'"'"'"' 
-PC  people  are  in  the  hab':  ellli,,?  "  ^:;'  1;:?.:'  ""l 
as  o^er  iishes  i„  pouds,  to  bo  fed  at  the  si d  otuu  ^"" 
Professor  Bradley  states  that  in  Rotterdam  at  t  oreserv^ 
of  carps  owned  by  Mr.  Eden,  he  saw  then,  fed.     " -fi   "c  , 

.^..e.tt  ^::^r;, - 

™e.iat:^ttiS^i-i-tr:i--- 


Fishes  have  sensitive  Eaes. 


39 


pond  in  duch  numbers  that  there  was  scarcely  room  for  them 
to  lie  by  one  another,  and  then  he  threw  some  spinach-seed 
among  them,  which  they  devoured  very  greedily.  This  sat- 
isfied me  that  fishes  have  the  sense  of  hearing."  Sir  Walter 
Rogers,  an  English  gentleman,  had  a  pond  of  pikes  which 
members  of  his  household  called  together  at  pleasure;  and  as 
carnivorous  fishes  are  more  wild  and  untamable  than  are 
those  which  feed  on  herbs,  it  offers  the  most  palpable  proof 
that  fishes  hear. 

M.  Lebault  advises  fish  culturists  not  to  permit  shooting 
about  the  ponds  for  wild-fowl,  etc.,  as  it  frightens,  injures, 
and  destroys  the  fish.  This  opinion  is  also  entertained  by 
celebrated  physiologists ;  and  John  Hunter,  who  describes  the 
ear  of  fishes— always,  he  says,  important— as  consisting  of  a 
gristly  substance,  very  hard  and  firm  in  parts,  and  in  some 
species  crusted  over  Avith  a  thin  plate  of  bone,  so  as  not  to 
permit  it  to  collapse.  The  ear  of  fishes  he  also  remarked  to 
possess  the  singular  peculiarity  of  increasing  with  the  size 
of  the  individual,  whereas  in  quadrupeds  it  is  nearly  as  large 
m  the  young  as  in  the  full-grown  animal. 

"  When  in  Portugal,"  said  Dr.  Hunter, "  in  1762,1  observed 
in  a  nobleman's  garden  near  Lisbon  a  small  fish-pond  full 
of  difterent  kinds  of  fishes.  Its  bottom  was  level  with  the 
ground,  and  was  made  by  forming  a  bank  all  round,  with  a 
shrul>bery  close  to  it.  Wliile  lying  on  the  bank  seeing  the 
fish,  I  desired  a  gentleman  vt^ho  was  my  comparion  to  go  be- 
hind the  shrubs  (that  there  be  no  reflection  from  the  flash) 
and  fire  his  gun.  The  moment  the  report  was  made  the  fish 
seemed  universally  affected,  for  they  vanished  immediately, 
raising,  as  it  wore,  a  cloud  of  mud  from  the  bottom.  In 
about  five  minutes  afterward  they  began  to  appear  and 
swim  about  as  before." 

The  discussions  of  Dr.  Munro,  Geoffroi,  Comparctti,  Scarpa, 
Weber,  aiul  De  Blainville,  may  be  referred  to,  as  their  works 


fullv  settle  tl 


le  (jiicstion  in  favor  of  hearing  in  fishes.    Web 


discovered  a  communication  between  the 


cr 


ear  in  11  dies  and 


40 


Fishing  in  American  Watises. 


ment  at  the  magnitude  of  their  nerve,  of  hearing 

It  IS  snperfluous  to  multiply  examoles  of  ti5L.  „      • 
when  cane.,  by  a  .histle  or  a'b'ell.     So  t^ZZ^^ 

pol tTrau'ee"":"'"""  f  """^  ''  "™-  'o™'-" 
Tn  M  cfr    '  Tf?  **'  d,ief  of  the  Fisheries  Commis- 

heai,  but  that  some  of  them  talk !    From  all  the  evidence 


Large  and  anxious  Families. 


41 


CHAPTER  II. 

FECUNDITY  OF  FISHES. 

First.  Mammalia,  including  whales,  porpoises,  and  all  fish- 
es which  bring  forth  alive  and  suckle  their  young,  whethei^v 
herbivorous  or  carnivorous,  seldom  have  mors  than  one  or 
two  young  at  a  birth,  which  sailors  term  calves. 

Second.  The  families  of  which  the  salmon  and  trout  are 
the  heads  are  called  by  naturalists  the  genus  Salmo.     These 
fishes  have  the  palpable  mark  of  an  adipose  second  dorsal 
fin ;  their  meat  is  of  a  tint  between  mallow  and  pink,  and 
they  are  regarded  by  anglers  and  epicures  as  the  highest 
game  and  most  luxurious  fishes  of  the  oviparous  class,  or 
those  fishes  which   replenish  their  species  by  laying  ego-s 
which  are  vivified  by  the  milt  of  the  male,  and  then,  after  a 
time,  the  eggs  hatch  hi  the  water.     This  process  is  common 
to  all  egg-laying  fishes;  but,  while  eggs  of  the  salmo  genus 
require  from  three  to  four  months  to  hatch,  those  of  the  du- 
pea  genus  hatch  in  as  many  days.     Seth  Green  hatched  shad 
artificially  on  the  Connecticut  River  within  forty  hours  from 
the  time  the  ova  and  milt  fell  into  the  hatdiing-boxes  in  the 
stream-being  the  main  current  of  the  river-and  not  in 
boxes  so  placed  as  that  a  stream  should  run  through  or  over 
them,  but  anchored  so  as  to  float  in  the  current  of  the  river 
submerging  a  sufficient  portion  of  them  for  keeping  the  eo-.s 
covered  with  water  to  a  sufficient  depth.     A  salmon  is  sm,- 
posed  to    ay  a  thousand  eggs  for  every  pound  the  mother 
fish  weighs,  consequently  they  average  from  ten  to  thirtv 
thousand  for  eacli  ])air.  ^ 

Third.  Included  in  this  class  are  all  the  oviparous  tribes 
but  those  of  the  genus  ^almo.     The  number  of  eggs  in  the 


42 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


lit     m 


ha?f  -11  .  *^^f^^^P.-nd  the  sturgeon  produce  from 
ha  fa  million  to  a  million  and  a  half,  the  celebrated  Dutch 
naturahst  Leuwenhoeck  reckoned  that  the  codfish  contains 
over  mne  millions  of  eggs.  This  estimate  was  ba^ed  upon 
weighing  accurately  a  small  part  of  the  roe  and  counting  th. 
eggs,  then  weighing  the  remainder,  and  estimating  the  whole 
from  the  part  counted.  Without  doubt  the  fecundity  of  all 
^le  food-fishes  of  the  sea  is  beyond  human  estimate;  so  that, 

a^t  bo'l'  Vr^        "'^  ""'  '™^*^'^^  ^^  ''''  ^^'^  fi«h^«>  the 

Ire  t  f  "^.1.  ''  '''"''^'  ''''^^  ^  ^^^  y^^^-«'  become  too 

great  for  the  waters  to  contain. 

SECTION  SECOND. 
voracity  of  fishes. 

pa,t  of  the  food  for  larger  ones,  md  even  those  full  grown 
oft  n  meet  m  fierce  combat,  when  the  one  whieh  hfstLe 
widest  ti„..t  come,  off  victorious  by  swallowing  his  oppo 
to  an  ^^^f  •I'-S  ->"looded  animals,  are  not  "susceptible 
to  an  acute  sense  of  pam ;  thus  it  does  not  hurt  an  eel  ueh 
to  be  skmned  and  a  shark  has  been  observed  to  seek  pr  y  for 

^JLT  "f  T'  P'"^""  °^''^'"'''  "■""'»«  domesticated 
m  p nvate  ponds,  do  not  fail  occasionally  to  devour  such 
members  of  their  own  family  as  venture  near  enough,  st 
Wilham  Jardu.e  states  that  "the  lake  trout  are  vet  rapa- 
cious, and,  after  attaining  the  weight  of  three  or  four  pound, 

fwn  yZtr'"''"'''  °"  ^™^"  '^^''•"O'  «P-'"'g  -en  thei.: 

This  bei°„g  t.™  of  the  finny  tribes  generally,  how  malapro- 
pos  IS  the  sympathy  extended  for  them  by  good  souls  who 
do  not  understand  the  savage  character  of  the^  cronLir 
sohctnde.  Such  was  the  poet  Dr.  Walcott,  author  of  1  fo. 
lowing  verses: 


Ceuelty  of  Fishes. 


43 


"  Why  flyest  thou  away  with  fear?  * 

Trust  me,  there's  naught  of  danger  near : 

I  have  no  wicked  hook, 
All  covered  with  a  smarting  bait, 
Alas !  to  tempt  thee  to  thy  fate, 

And  drag  thee  from  the  brook. 
Oh  harmless  tenant  of  the  flood, 
I  do  not  wish  to  spill  thy  blood ; 

For  nature  unto  thee 
Perchance  ha?  given  a  tender  wife. 
And  children  dear,  to  charm  thy  life, 

As  she  hath  done  to  me. 
Enjoy  thy  stream,  oh  harmless  fish, 
And  when  an  angler,  for  his  dish. 

Through  gluttony's  vile  sin 
Attemi)ts — a  wretch — to  pull  thee  out, 
God  give  thee  strength,  oh  gentle  trout. 

To  pull  the  rascal  in  !" 

Instances  are  common  of  fishes  following  a  hooked  one,  and, 
while  it  is  being  played  by  the  angler,  biting  pieces  out  of 
it,  and  sometimes  swallowing  it,  so  that  both  are  landed.  It 
may  be  readily  inferred  from  this  that  small  fish  form  at- 
tractive bait.  Fish  evince  no  mercy  for  any  living  thini>- 
which  inhabits  the  waters,  and  most  of  the  angler's  fishes 
feed  readily  on  their  own  broods.  As  fish  are  generally  at- 
tracted by  the  sight  or  smell  of  blood,  ro>l  feathers,  burnt 
wool,  and  scarlet  braid,  etc.,  are  found  to  fascinate  them  when 
attached  to  trolls;  especially  is  this  proven  to  be  the  case 
in  trolling  for  bluefish,  black  bass,  and  maskinonge. 

I  therefore  conclude  that,  as  the  principal  food  of  all  fishes 
consists  of  animals  and  animalculse,  with  water-insects,  and 
the  spawn  deposited  in  the  waters,  these  last  seeming  to  form 
the  dainties  most  eagerly  sought  by  them,  so  the  unlimited 
voracity  of  fishes,  which  has  no  counterpart  in  any  other 
branch  of  animal  creation,  may  be  one  of  the  means  wiseiy 
ordered  to  check  an  excessive  multiplication ;  and  that  their 
extraordinary  fecundity  is  probably  a  provision  of  nature  for 
supplying  an  adequate  amount  of  food,  upon  the  same  prin- 
ciple that  land  insects  are  so  crreatlv  multinlipd  nrnhahlxr  fny 
supplying  food  to  birds. 


44 


Fishing  in  Aaiekica^j  Waters. 


i 


SECTION  THIRD. 

TIMES    OP  FEEDING   AND   HAUNTS   OP  PISHES 

Most  fish  are  said  to  be  night-feeders,  yet  all  of  them  feed 

the  night,  and  are  tempted  to  come  abroad  when  the  weathp! 

IS  so  cloudy  as  to  resemble  twili^^ht  so  auTZ^l 
+},;„  f„„-i  ,.    .  *^^"o"^j  »o  aiso  tne  nshe?.  With 

this  farther  peonharUy,  that  a  turbid  sta  ,„  ,™te,'  from 

recent  ra.Bs  may  so  dim  the  light  that  t. ,.     wUl  bUe  wZ 
the  sun  shines  brightly. 

When  the  weather  is  bright  and  the  water  dear  most 
fishes  Iceep  their  places  of  retirement,  some  amongtedsTnd 
other  w^ter-plants,  some  nnder  banks  or  ledges  of  rock  Inrt 
■ng  m  deeper  and  deeper  water  as  the  weather  becomt 
warmer,  so  that  the  feeding-level  for  lake  tront.  whTeh  is  oftet 

I "^  ;  :f1  '"\  '"  ""''  ^P™S.  i^  found  from  flf;   0 
a  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  in  July  and  Auo-ust     rL,. 
fishes  «ek  the  shade  of  overhanging  t.es;  C  u^* 
stones;  some  squattnig  close  to  the  ground  over  SBrins-t 
sand,  or  „.  the  sludge  at  the  bottom  off  he  wateT    I™! 
ent  waters,  however,  there  are  peculiarities  of  cu,-re„ts  od 
d.es,  and  pools  that  fish  are  fond  of  haunting  eonee™i„t 
«*.ch  no  practical  rule  of  general  utility  can  II  ^ZZ^ 

^^uVh^^Lg^r™  ^^^'""^  «'^"''  --  "^  «-^'  "*■ 

STRENGTH   AND  PEOPCLSIVE  POWEE. 

The  true  indication  of  a  fish's  strength  is  found  in  fh. 
shape  of  its  head  and  shoulders  back  to'the  fl^t  d  rsal  fin 
while  .ts  speed  or  propulsive  power  is  shown  by  its  shanj 
from  the  front  of  the  second  dorsal  and  anal  fins  tott  et 
of  the  ta. 1,  and  the  shape  of  this  caudal  continuation.  Of  the 
o,fed.ta,|,.t  has  already  been  remarked  that  the  swordflsl 

while  of  the  square-tails  the  brook  trout  and  squetea<.ue  an 
supposed  to  propel  with  th,.  greatest  velocity.   \n,::g I": 


Peofessok  Bokelli's  Experiments. 


46 


which  unite  the  greatest  velocity  with  the  greatest  degree  of 
strength  must  be  reckoned  the  whale ;  for,  struck  with  a  har- 
poon or  spear  with  a  line  attached,  the  leviathan  of  the  watery 
darts  down  into  the  deep  with  such  velocity  that  if  the  line 
were  to  entangle  it  would  either  bo  broken  or  the  boat  would 
be  capsized.    Upon  the  act  of  striking  a  whale,  therefore,  one 
man  is  stationed  to  give  his  whole  attention  to  the  line  run- 
ning off  clear,  while  another  is  employed  to  pour  water  con- 
tinually on  the  wood  over  which  the  line  runs,  to  prevent  ig- 
nition by  friction.     The  angler  knows  that  the  sheepshead 
has  this  power  of  diving  with  the  velocity  of  lightning ;  so 
have  all  fishes  which  are  swift  and  wide  compared  to  their 
length.     In  diving  or  darting  upward,  the  swim-bladder  is  a 
great  assistance,  as  it  is  found  to  be  compressed  while  the 
fish  is  at  the  bottom,  and  expanded  when  the  fish  is  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.    Probably  the  salmon  and  the  bluefish 
unite  the  greatest  amount  of  muscular  strength  to  the  great- 
est power  of  propulsion.     Other  fishes  of  our  coast,  such  as 
the  Spanish  mackerel,  bonetta,  cerus,  and  the  horse  mackerel, 
add  to  the  muscularity  of  the  salmon  and  bluefish  the  propul- 
sive power  of  the  swordfish  and  the  dolphin.     The  pectorals, 
ventrals,  and  anal  fins  assist  the  fish  in  maintaining  its  bal- 
ance or  level  position  of  body.     In  experimenting  upon  the 
use  of  fins.  Professor  Borelli,  of  Naples,  ascertained  that  after 
clipping  off  the  pectoral,  ventral,  and  anal  fins  of  fishes,  all 
their  motions  became  unsteady,  and  they  reeled  from  right  to 
left,  and  up  and  down,  in  such  irregular  manner  as  to  prove 
that  they  were  left  at  the  mercy  of  their  voracious  neighbors 
of  the  deep. 


46 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Watebs. 


CHAPTER  in. 

COAST  AND  ESTUARY  FISHES. 
As  the  fishes  of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  America  in- 
cud,„g  those  ofthe  estuaries  and  tidal  waters  which  debouch 
along  our  coast,  are  more  numerous,  and  include  a  greater  va- 

do  the  fi^  ''  -l'  n^^"  ^"'  ^^^  ^—-1  iisheLa  tVan 
neaily  every  American  angler  of  a  tidal  river  regards  the 
^nped  bass  as  the  fish  of  fishes, .a.  excellence  to  be  angled 

hist  on  the  list,  and  showing  some  ofthe  artistic  ways  for 
taking  him.  j     ^^^ 


The  Stkiped  Bass. 

This  fish,  so  beautiful  and  gamesome,  is  peculiar  to  the 
tidal  waters  and  estuaries  ofthe  rivers  which  empty  on  the 
coast  of  the  Atlantic  from  Portland  to  Norfolk.     The  striped 
bass  IS  known  farther  north  and  south,  but  it  exists  in  the 
most  perfect  state  in  the  rivers  and  along  the  coast  between 
the  points  named.     It  affords  good  sport  with  light  tackle 
when  Its  weight  is  but  half  a  pound;  and  it  trie^  both  the 
metal  and  skill  of  an  angler  after  it  rises  to  the  ponderou 
importance  often  pounds,  though  it  is  said  to  attain  to  the 


Api  ^abance  aot)  Habits  of  Stkiped  Bass.        47 

weight  of  nearly  a  hundred.  I  have  captured  but  one  which 
weighed  over  forty  pounds,  although  I  have  angled  for  them 
every  season  for  the  past  thirty  years.  It.  is  great  game 
when  weighing  any  where  from  ten  to  thirty  pounds.  In 
muscular  power  the  striped  bass  equals  the  salmon,  but  it 
lacks  the  caudal  power  for  leaping,  which  is  so  palpable  in 
the  form  of  a  salmon,  back  of  its  adipose  fin,  including  its 
crescent-shaped  tail. 

This  fish  is  known  south  of  New  Jersey  as  the  rockfish ; 
but  as  no  two  ichthyologists  agree  upon  a  classical  name  for 
the  fish,  it  had  probably  best  be  called  the  name  by  which  it 
is  known  where  the  greatest  numbers  are  taken,  and  there  it 
is  known  only  as  the  striped  bass  ;  and  as  there  is  no  other 
fish  which  at  all  resembles  it,  there  is  no  chance  of  mistake. 
It  approximates  the  Perca  genus,  the  front  dorsal  fin  being 
composed  of  seven  spinous  or  spiked  rays,  and  having  two 
nearly  concealed  spines.    Its  scales  are  rather  large,  and  of. 
metallic  lustre;  gill-covers  serrated  and  edges  sharp.     The 
color  of  the  back  is  a  blending  of  black,  blue,  and  green,  light- 
mg  to  bluish-gray  at  the  sides,  and  to  a  satin  white  belly. 
The  longitudinal  stripes  are  usually  seven  or  eight  in  number, 
and  are  like  narrow  black  braids,  sparkling  with  silver  or 
diamonds  and  emerald.    Its  symmetry,  marks,  and  satin  sheen 
render  it  one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  fishes  in 
the  world,  independent  of  its  great  game,  generous  play,  and 
luxury  as  a  dinner  fish. 

The  striped  bass  is  eminently  domestic  in  his  habits  He 
IS  not  given  to  wandering  or  vagrancy.  He  is  generally  to 
be  found  at  home  and  in  good  condition.  The  female  de- 
posits her  eggs  in  fresh  and  brackish  waters,  but  never  in  the 
sea.  In  November  the  bass  shoal  and  congregate  in  brackish 
water-ponds,  or  back  waters  of  tidal  rivers,  or  in  the  bays  and 
bayous  of  rivers  which  have  an  outlet  to  the  sea,  after  which 
time  It  will  not  take  bait  until  the  following  spring,  after 
having  spawned  and  returned  to  active  waters.  The  pond<^ 
formed  by  the  back  water  of  the  Seconnet  River  were  a  few 


M 


FiSHINO  IH  Ameeicin  VVatees. 


^.nters  smce  so  full  „f  rtriped  bass  that  tl.o  flsl,  were  di, 
covered  by  the  r  dorsal  fins  in  the  ice,  whore  they  had  be  „ 
frozen  by  too  .Jose  packin..  The  ice  was  cut,  aul  hundred" 
of  cart-loads  were  pi,  .ed  out  with  forks 'and  taken  t 

Striped  bass  will  live  and  increase  when  confined  to  fresh 
water,  but  .ts  shape  then  becomes  changed,  and  instead  oft 
symmetry  and  lustre  when  having  access  to  both  fresh  and 

tUlant.  Th,s  I  discorvered  in  those  I  took  in  the  upper  part 
of  Lake  Ontano,  audit  corroborates  the  opinion  whichlhave 
hea.-d  expressed  by  other  angle,,  and  fish' ulturists 

These  fish  dehght  in  rocky  shoals,  among  which  they  flan 
then-  tads  and  rub  their  scales  as  they  pros;ect  for  S'a 

.cac.es     Their  great  power  and  swiftness  enable  them  to  for- 
■age  with  impunity  for  disabled  menhaden,  spearing  shrimD 
c^bs  she  der  lobsters  etc.,  among  the  bre'akls,  rfiihey  Zh 

.mes,  when  the  sea  ,s  agitated,  that  casting  for  them  from 

hatangln"  r     ""7/'''^''"»"'^  ■'^"'^'"S  -^  -"active 
man  angling  tor  any  other  game  fish 

tvlfir^'r  ■""■'""'  "^"y  ^^"''^  «»•  <"'Pt«rins  this  beau- 
^  of  the  estuary,  the  chief  of  which  are  still-baitto.  from  a" 
^mchored  boat  along  the  edge  of  the  tide,  trolling  w^Zive 

.^..o.-es  and  islands  «rYol I  M^^n:^;!' ^« 

SECTION  SECOND. 

AXGLING  FOR   STRIPED   BASS, 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  proximately  realize  the    ',ar- 

w  tr  1       ''"'''  ^"  "  '  ^^"^  fish,  I  propose  taking  Z 
with  me  on  several  excursions   after  the  lustrous  beauty 
..nd,  first,  we  will  try  him  in  the  vicinity  of  Is^cw  York     Tjfe 


Effects  of  an  easterly  Wind.  49 

weather  and  tide  are  favorable,  and  the  moon  is  right  for  giv- 
ing hsh  an  excellent  appetite  and  great  activity.     Fishes  in 
waters  near  the  ocean  bite  best  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
.noon,  while  those  which  are  up  rivers  and  creeks,  near  fresh 
water,  bite  best  at  full  tides,  and  immediately  after  a  «  nor'- 
easter,"  when  the  wind,  having  backed  round  by  the  south 
has  settled  m  the  northwest.     You  may  prove  these  facts' 
without  going  a  dozen  miles  from  the  metropolis ;  and  I  have 
always  noticed  that  it  is  better  fishing  in  « the  Kills"  and  at 
the  hedges  of  Newark  Bay,  as  well  as  at  those  in  the  lower 
pm-t  of  the  Bay  of  New  York,  when  the  tide  is  low,  whileihe 
hslnng  at  King's  Bridge  and  Spuyten  Duyvel  is  best  at  verv' 
high  t.des      The  only  exception  to  this  rule  is  applicable  to 

h5 Ms.         "^  ^  '  ^""''^  ^'^^  ''''^'  ^'''  ^""»8- 

.utl7'%'''\^''uV^^  ^'''  to-morrow,  suppose  we  make  a 
lay  of  It  ?    \\  ell,  that  being  agreed  to,  we  will  first  try  Har- 
lem River,  or  the  creek  at  King's  Bridge.     Being  an  angler 
you  of  course  know  that  the  baits  here  are  confined  to  shrimp 
c^1rly  m  spring  and  late  in  autumn;  to  soft-shell  and  shedder 
crab  m  the  summer  and  until  the  middle  of  October;  after 
which  soft-shell  clam  for  the  English  Neighborhood  Bridge 
and  shnmp,  with  an  occasional  shedder  lobster,  serve  as  baits 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  except  for  trolling  in  Hell  Gate 
where  we  use  squid;  and  for  fishing  in  the  surf  at  Newport' 
and  along  the  coast  generally,  the  menhaden  is  preferred' 
^had  roe  is  frequently  recommended  for  bass  bait.     I  once 
tried  It  at  Saybrook,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  Riv- 
er, where  the  bass  were  said  to  bite  it  unconditionally  but 
though  I  stood  on  the  platform  and  fished  from  it,  I  did  not 
capture  a  single  fish.     It  was  not  because  the  bass  did  not 
like  the  bait,  but  rather  that  the  great  depth  of  wa.er  and 
strength  of  tide  obliged  me  to  fish  with  a  heavy  tracing 
smker,  and  the  fish  stole  my  bait  before  it  settled  c^  the  bot- 
tom because  I  was  not  prepared  with  the  means  of  nomas 
niusim  wherein  to  tie  the  bait  over  the  hook.     I  have' never 

D 


I 


50 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


I 


tried  the  bait  since,  and  though  it  is  very  attractive,  it  is  un- 
pleasant to  use.  The  thousands  of  barrels  of  shad  cured 
there  every  shad  season,  when  the  roe  is  thrown  into  the 
river,  attracts  myriads  of  strijied  bass  every  May  and  June, 
causing  a  regret  that  Seth  Green  could  not  use  the  roe  of 
this  delicious  esculent  for  restocking  the  river  as  he  does  at 
Holyoke. 

Of  course  tackle  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  As  we  are 
to  angle  for  small  bass,  with  crab  and  shrimp  bait,  we  will 
rig  light,  and  as  represented  by  the  following  engraving  : 


Tackle  for  taking  Small  Bass 


A.  Solid  Cork-float.  B.  Swivel  Siuker.  C.  Piece  of  the  top  of  Rod,  showing  the 
double  guides ;  on  one  side  bell-metal,  and  the  other  agate.  D.  Agate  or  Caraeli- 
an  tip  to  screw  into  the  top  of  the  rod.  E.  Upper  Hook,  rigged  a  foot  above  the  oth- 
er hook  for  shrimp.  P.  Lower  Hook,  for  baiting  with  shedder  crab.  G,  H.  Single- 
gut  Leader.  1.  Line ;  of  either  linen  twisted  or  silk  braided ;  very  small,  uo  larirer 
than  for  trout,  but  from  300  to  400  feet  in  length. 

The  reel  should  be  a  multiplier,  Avithout  any  stop,  check, 
or  drag ;  it  should  be  of  brass,  German  silver,  or  bell-metal, 
run  on  steel  or  agate  pivots,  and  Avith  a  balance  crank. 

The  rod  for  this  style  of  fishing  should  be  from  9  to  1 1 


Angling  at  King's  Bridge.  51 

feet  long,  bearing  in  mind  that  a  short,  stiff  rod  is  the  best 
to  cast  with,  but  not  so  good  to  pUiy  a  fish  with  light  run- 
ning-tackle. Of  course  the  size  of  float  and  weight  of  sinker 
will  be  changed  to  suit  the  waters  and  the  tides. 

".See  that  all  things  be  right, 
For  'twould  be  a  spite 
To  want  tools  when  a  man  goes  a-fishing." — Cotton, 

You  perceive  that  I  have   selected  one  hook  with  an 
O'Shaughnessy  bend  (E),  and  the  other  (F)  an  Aberdeen. 

Well,  brother  angler,  a  night  of  sound  sleep,  and  our  in- 
comparable breakfast  at  the  Astor,  with  our  drive  over  the 
Bloomingdale  Road  this  beautiful  morning,  has  so  enlivened 
me  to  a  sense  of  the  beautiful  that  I  feel  assured  we  shall 
have  good  sport  to-day,  and  enjoy  it.  This  is  King's  Bridge, 
the  name  of  the  most  spicy  and  succulent  oyster  that  ever 
graced  the  cuisine  of  a  Dorlon.  Our  horse  will  be  well  cared 
for  at  this  hotel,  for  the  host— an  admirable  caterer— appre- 
ciates anglers. 

We  will  first  see  what  sport  there  is  to  be  had  at  the  east 
bridge,  where  we  will  joint  our  rods,  and  rig  sinkers  and  floats 
according  to  the  movement  of  the  tide.     I  perceive  that  the 
tide  is  just  on  the  turn  to  flood.     Rig  light  for  half  an  hour, 
and  then  change  to  heavier  sinker  and  larger  float.     I. like 
bridge  fishing,  for,  after  making  a  cast,  you  may  humor  your 
line  so  as  to  lead  the  bait  in  the  most  angling  manner  from 
current  to  current ;  and  then,  in  striking  at  a  bite  forty  yards 
off,  there  is  so  much  sport  in  playing  your  fish  until  you  get 
him  into  the  slack  water  formed  by  the  piers  of  the  bridge ; 
and,  being  from  8  to  10  feet  above  the  water,  you  generally 
fasten  the  fish  at  the  first  bite.    Strike !  You've  hooked  him  ! 
There !  give  hijn  play,  but  feel  his  weight,  and  make  him  con- 
tend for  every  foot  of  line  you  give  him,  or  he  will  tak-  the 
whole  without  exhausting  himself,  and  you  will  lose  him. 
Do  not  permit  him  to  run  back  on  you,  for  that  is  a  favorite 
<lodge  of  these  striped  sides  to  get  slack  line,  and  enable  them 
to  dislodge  the  hook.     Keep  your  rod  up  nearly  perpendicu- 


52 


I'iSHiNG  IN  American  Waters. 


lar,  giving  him  the  benefit  of  its  spring,  for  he  is  bony-mouth- 
ed, though  the  teeth  in  his  upper  jaw  are  too  small  and  short 
to  bite  or  even  chafe  off  a  siik-worm  gut  snell.     Keep  your 
fish  out  of  the  swiftest  of  the  tide,  and,  after  playing  him  un- 
til he  succumbs  from  exhaustion,  land  him  on  the  shore,  for 
he  is  too  heavy  to  lift  upon  the  bridge.     Well  done  !     Now 
bait  quickly  and  cast  for  another.    You  perceive  that  at  the 
foot  of  the  rapid  tide  the  bass  lie  in  wait  for  bait,  for  our 
floats  dip  at  that  place.     But  the  fish  move  away  from  there 
after  the  tide  gets  running  its  full  strength,  and  an  hour  is  all 
of  first-rate  fishing  we  may  expect  in  one  tide,  therefore  it  is 
necessary  to  be  active  in  baiting  and  expert  at  casting  and 
playing  a  fish,  always  using  shrimp  on  the  upper  hook  and 
shedder  on  the  lower  one,  when  you  use  two  baits  at  a  time 
m  this  style  of  fishing.     Now,  as  the  tide  has  become  too 
swift  for  float-fishing,  just  step  into  this  boat,  and  we  will  row 
down  to  the  first  island  in  the  creek,  seventy-five  rods  beyond 
the  west  bridge,  and  try  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek.     The  fish 
are  smaller  here,  but  they  bite  more  generously.     I  took  1 74 
here  m  one  day,  and  yet  Judge  Brevoort,  my  companion, 
beat  me  by  one  fish.  -   See !  one  on  each  hook  at  every  cast ! 
Say  you  not  that  angling  for  small  bass  with  light  tackle 
forms  a  pleasing  excitement?    Well,  having  fished  out  the 
tide,  suppose  we  return  to  the  hotel  and  take  our  vehicle  for 
iiome  ?    This  place  is  accessible  by  public  conveyances  over 
several  routes,  but  as  it  is  only  eleven  miles  from  the  City 
Hall,  I  prefer  to  drive  out.     We  have  taken  between  thirty 
and  forty  bass  which  scale  from  half  a  pound  to  a  pound 
each— only  three  two-pound  fish  and  one  three-pounder;  and 
this  may  be  regarded  as  an  average  morning's  sport. 

SECTION  THIRD. 

TROLLING   IN   HELL   GATE. 

You  doubtless  perceived,  brother  singler,  that  the  sport 
which  we  yesterday  enjoyed  at  King's  Bridge  might  be 
i>racticed  and  greatly  relished  by  ladies.     Many  ladies  of 


Angling  suited  to  Ladies. 


63 


New  York  and  its  suburbs  are  experts  at  casting  a  fly  for 
trout  or  a  bait  for  bass ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  they  lend  one 
of  the  principal  charms  to  ruralizing.  I  do  not  like  the  pent- 
up,  hide-bound,  cynical  geniuses  of  the  Diogenes  quality,  nor 
yet  of  those  bachelors  whose  rectangular  apartments  each 
side  of  a  hall  in  our  hotels  are  not  inappropriately  consider- 
ed by  some  as  stalls  for  the  stray  oxen  of  society.  I  agree 
with  Brother  Lathv  that 

"No  scenes  more  suited  are  to  themes  of  love, 
Than  whilst  on  rivers'  banks  you  fish  and  rove ; 
T'  instruct  the  fair  tlie  happy  lover  tries, 
And,  grateful,  she  rewards  him  with  her  eyes. 
No  longer,  then,  our  angling  sports  disdain, 
Since  Venus  sprung  from  Ocean  poets  feign, 
Rising  all  beauteous  from  the  briny  main : 
As,  of  our  grief,  do  thou  partake  our  pleasure— 
Our  life,  our  heart,  our  soul,  our  earthly  treasure!" 

When  you  decide  to  tvdll  for  a  day  over  the  tumultuously- 
seethmg  and  hissing  waters  of  Hell  Gate,  where  an  oarsman 
must  know  the  tides  and  shoals  to  keep  his  boat  right  side 
up,  you  will  require  heavier  tackle,  and  will  therefore  select 
them  from  the  plate  of  "  implements  for  angling  in  lakes 
bays,  rivers,"  etc.,  on  the  following  page. 

Select  a  rod  from  8  to  9  feet  long, like  A,B,C,in  the  *en- 


<ii' 


aving      Let  it  taper  regularly  and  be  rather  heavy.     The 
butt  and  second  joint  should  be  made  of  ash,  and  the  top  of 
lancewood.     Bell-metal  top  and  guides  are  best  for  mount- 
ing a  trolling-rod,  while  agate  or  carnelian  are  best  for  the 
purpose  of  casting  a  long  distance,  as  the  friction  is  less  on 
jewels  than  on  metals.     The  guides  for  all  kinds  of  bass 
angling  should  be  large  enough  to  pass  a  knot  in  the  line 
through  theni.     In  ringing  rods  for  salmon  and  trout,  the 
rings  should  be  diminished  in  size  from  butt  to  tip,  as  the 
rods  taper;  but  such  is  not  the  case  with  bass  guides, all  of 
which  should  be  equal  in  size  and  shape,  and  polished  for  th0 
Ime  to  run  smoothly.    Large  guides  are  a  modern  inventioti!^ 
About  ten  years  ago  I  was  fishing  at  West  Island-that  par- 


A' B.C.  Butt, middle  joiut,  and  top  of  a  Brass  Rod.  D.  Baiting  Needle.  E.  Sinker 
TrarhiJ'sfnknt''»?.'i'^-  ^^\^''^k'  ^^'^ohvin,,  four  inches  acrJs  the  bend.  Vl^  Ova 
Bp«?^^f^  »^f '  ^"^  ^'^}^  through  centre.  H.  Swivel  Sinker.  I.  Pivot  multiplying 
I^nk^r  K^Wo^'l';""""^  ^\^\T  ^Y'r«''  <■"'•  fl«l''"g  "»  the  bottom  with  trac  nf 
?««,?;>,  ^"  ^«"?ee,  to  fasten  trolling  sinker  E  for  the  different  lengths  of  squid.  L. 
u^.lf'^r  ,11"''^'* ^'  tl.'.  ^^•'*'=*>  the  line  is  attached;  length  optional.  M.  Heavy 
O  Srnfl'nprfi'r'iT.M^-  ^^^^^'^  ^*°"'?  I  ?'"''-"'  strong/well  tempered,  SmmtV  bend*. 
?;.,,i  ? V",^*^  f"*^  c  Itch  ng  shrimp,  or,  with  larger  meshes,  a  landing-net  l^ro.l.  Shank- 
bended  Hook,  with  line  fastened  bv  three  Imlf  hiK-h^s  fo  nuL'l"  f(<-  -r  r'i=^  int'-Mu. 
"?•»  l"r,l'"ge  striped  bass,  a  and  y.  Smaller  jsizes,  for  casting  menhaden  bait  or 
still-bnitlng  witli  heavy  tracing  sinker.  4.  Kinsey  bend,  or  I'ennsylvan  rilook  '  6 
OShaughuessybend.    6.  Sproafs  bead.    7  and  8. 'Kendal  Hooks.      ""'"""""•    "' 


How  TO  Squid  a  Hook. 


55 


adise  of  the  bass  angler— when  one  morning  I  was  awakened 
from  my  early  slumbers  by  the  loud  calls  of  Hosier,  my  gaff- 
er, who  had  tried  a  cast  with  one  of  my  rods  from  the  Table 
Rock,  and,  in  casting,  had  thrown  a  knot  in  the  line  about 
thirty  feet  from  the  reel ;  and,  as  the  guides  were  too  small 
to  pass  the  knot.  Hosier,  to  prevent  the  fish  from  getting 
•  slack  line,  ran  back  as  the  fish  came  toward  shore,  and  ran 
forward  when  the  fish  carried  off  too  much  line,  calling  lusti- 
ly for  me  as  he  ran  backward  and  forward  in  great  excite- 
ment. .  I  finally  relieved  him  of  the  rod  in  due  time,  and  he 
gaffed  the  bass,  which  Aveighed  twenty-two  pounds.     Smce 
then  I  have  all  guides  made  large  enough  to  pass  a  small 
pea.     Double  guides  are  best,  unless  you  have  Pritchard's 
patent  guides,  which  turn  on  a  fixed  metallic  band.     It  is  al- 
ways best  to  disjoint  a  rod  when  done  fishing  for  the  day, 
and  then  change  the  sides  of  the  two  upper  joints  every  day| 
as  it  prevents  the  rod  from  warping  or  setting. 

The  reel,  like  I,  should  carry  600  feet  of  hawser-laid  Imen 
line,  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  threads,  thus  rendering  it  about 
the  size  of  a  fine  salmon  line;  but  the  line  should  be  free  from 
any  oily  composition,  and  a  dip  in  dye  to  give  it  a  greenish 
shade  is  beneficial.     Never,  by  any  chance,  use  a  check  reel 
for  coast  or  estuary  fishing.     Depend  on  the  pressure  of  your 
thumb  for  checking  the  fish,  and  wear  knitted  thumb-stalls. 
Hooks  like  H,  with  taper  shank  and  loop  of  linen  line,  the 
same  size  as  that  on  the  reel,  extending  six  inches  beyond 
the  end  of  the  shank.     Place  your  squid  along  the  hook  so 
that  the  extreme  bend  of  the  hook  will  be  opposite  its  eyes, 
when  slide  up  sinker  on  loop  E  toward  L  until  the  sinker  is' 
even  with  the  other  end  of  the  squid.     By  this  process  your 
tackle  will  fit  your  squid.     Then  fasten  E  to  its  place  by  K ; 
hook  the  squid  back  of  its  mouth,  running  tlio  point  forward,' 
and  turning  it  down  so  as  to  bring  the  point  out  between  the 
eyes ;  attach  loop  L  to  the  baiting-needle ;  draw  the  sinker  up 
thi-ough  the  ink-snok.  or  body,  and  attach  the  loop  to  the  end 
of  the  reel-line,  and  you  will  be  ready  to  commence  trolling. 


I 


In' 

Ini  ;;'! 


56 


Fishing  in  American  Wa' 


TEKS. 


Those  who  employ  a  man  to  row  and  gaff  the  fish  would 
do  well  to  direct  him  to  squid  half  a  dozen  hooks  before  start- 
ing, and  lay  them  aside  in  the  boat  under  some  wet  rock-weed 
before  leaving  shore.    If  you  have  ever  been  trolling-as  I 
have-when  large  bass  were  biting  generously,  you  will  real- 
ize the  force  of  this  advice.     It  is  unpleasant  to  be  trolling 
in  rough  waters,  and,  when  a  bass  strikes  the  back  of  your 
hook  and  takes  your  bait  without  fastening,  to  be  obliged  to  ' 
stop  and  squid  a  hook  before  proceeding. 

Now  for  the  fray !    Our  boats  are  made  by  Hughes,  fellow- 
apprentice  of  George  Steers;  and  with  Sile  Wright  and  Sandv 
Gibson  as  guides  and  gaffers,  we  shall  be  sculled  over  all  the 
favorite  trolhng  grounus  from  the  ferry  below  to  the  Drowned 
Marsh  above  Ward's  Island.     Our  first  move  will  be  toward 
lide  Rock,  swinging  Big  and  Little  Mill  Rocks  on  the  way  • 
then  we  shall  glide  over  the  Hen  and  Chickens,  swinr.  Holt's' 
Rock  on  the  Hog's  Back,  round  Nigger  Point,  and,  stopping  at 
.John  Hilhker's  to  rest,  enjoy  a  piece  of  incomparable  apple- 
pie  and  a  glass  of  milk  served  by  two  charming  ladies.    While 
indulging  these  ruminations  one  day,  as  my  friend  was  swina. 
mg*  Holt's  Rock,  he  hooked  a  large  bass  and  played  it  all  th^e 
way  roui  1  the  east  end  of  Ward's  Island  to  Chowder  Eddy, 
where,  on  landing,  it  weighed  twenty  pounds. 

The  sketch  on  the  opposite  page  represents  my  friend  as 
the  bass  first  rose  and  laid  its  course. 

I  was  not  so  fortunate  as  my  friend ;  for,  as  my  squid  was 
struck  by  a  large  bass,  Sile  said  he  heard  the  rod  crack;  but 
the  fish  made  such  a  long,  vigorous  run,  that  I  scarcely 'real- 
ized what  he  said,  and,  alier  turning  the  fish  and  reelin-  hiu) 
in  gradually,  he  broke  water  with  a  leap,  clearing  the  sinface 
and  revealing  a  forty-pounder.  While  turning  and  bringin..' 
hira  toward  the  boat  for  the  third  time,  he  darted  down  an.^i 

*  Swinging  a  ro,ck  is  done  by  the  oarsman  holding  the  boat  sixty  feet  from 
the  rock  and  swinging  it  so  that  the  troll  will  move  about  the  rock  on  all 
sides  and  play  as  if  alive.  This  art  is  possessed  in  great  perfection  by  Hell 
(iat«  oarsmen.  j    "tm 


A  "Word  on  Gaffing. 


57 


Fish  and  Tide  Ikresistible 


snapped  the  middle  joint  of  my  rod  in  two,  when  I  threw  the 
broken  rod  down  at  my  feet  and  took  hold  of  the  line;  the 
iish  made  but  feeble  resistance,  and  I  towed  him  alongside 
the  boat  and  shouted  to  Sile  for  the  gaff,  but  he  had  thought- 
lessly placed  it  in  tlie  other  boat.     I  then  endeavored  to  put 
my  hand  m  his  mouth,  and,  while  in  the  act,  the  fish  turned 
over,  breaking  the  hook  and  bleeding  profusely  as  he  settled 
ott  mto  the  tide,  leaving  us  astonished  and  almost  desperate 
On  exammation,  I  learned  that  a  flaw  in  the  hook  had  been 
the  cause  of  our  loss  of  the  Iish;  but  had  we  rowed  ashore 
and  towed  the  fish  after  the  rod  broke,  we  should  probably 
have  landed  him.     I  have  never  since  been  caught  trollino-  or 
anglmg  for  large  bass  without  a  gaff  and  tried  hooks ;  and  as 
the  gaff  IS  an  implement  of  such  high  importance,  I  have  given 
the  shape  and  description  in  another  part  of  this  book  •  but 
the  one  shaped  like  F  among  the  "implements,"  and  from  3 
to  4i  mches  across  the  bend  from  point  to  shank,  made  with 
a  screw  to  fit  into  the  gaff  handle,  leaves  little  to  be  desired 
In  usmg  it,  drop  it  below  the  fish,  point  upward,  and  as  it  is 
raised  to  the  fi.h,  the  fish  settles  against  it,  and  a  simple  jerk 
impales  it.     Do  not  strike  a  fish  with  the  gaff;  insert  the 


58 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Watees. 


gaff  gently  beneath,  and  it  will  be  hooked  with  the  utmost 
ease. 

Well,  with  broken  rod  and  tangled  line,  I  ordered  Sile  to  row 
away  froih  the  scene  of  our  misfortune.     I  found  my  friend 
at  Hammock  Rocks,  his  fish  laid  out  in  state  on  rock-grass, 
and  he  mutely  bending  over  it  with  a  face  radiant  with  pleas- 
urable satisfaction  at  his  achievement.  .  Trolling,  to  him,  was 
a  new-born  pleasure,  and  his  first  capture  a  trophy  of  which 
a  slayer  of  lionP  might  be  justly  proud.     It  would  be  super- 
fluous to  add,  we  drank  to  the  study  for  a  Stearns  or  a 
Bracket  as  it  lay  shining  on  the  pallet  of  sea-grass.     Sandy 
commiserated  Sile's  misfortune  at  losing  the  large  bass.     In 
the  centre  of  a  radius  containing  the  most  picturesque  land- 
scape near  the  metropolis,  we  rested,  wondered,  and  admired. 
"  The  skies  tlieir  fairest  canvas  spread 
When  the  angler  goes  a-troHing ; 
Eelenting  clouds  float  overhead, 
And  tears  and  smiles  alternate  shed, 
When  the  angler  goes  a-trolling. "— Stoddart, 
Having  toasted  the  health  and  appetite  of  bass  in  that 
neighborhood  in  a  glass  of  sherry,  and  replaced  the  broken 
joint  of  my  rod  with  a  sound  one,  we  again  seated  ourselves 
in  our  boats,  and  commenced  trolling  the  Little  Gate,  the 
Kills,  and  all  about  Randall's  and  Ward's  Islands,  and,  after 
the  usual  alternatives  of  hopes,  fears,  and  moments  of  ecstasy 
we  finished  up  a  mess  of  seven  bass  between  us,  the  largest 
nearly  thirty,  and  the  smallest  four  pounds  in  weight. 

Well,  having  given  you  a  taste  of  the  sport  on  the  waters 
bounding  Manhattan  Island  on  tlie  north  and  east,  let  us  an- 
chor our  boat  near  the  lower  hedges  of  New  York  Bay  and 
learn  how  different  bottom  fishing  with  a  tracing  sinker  is 
from  both  trolling  and  angling  with  a  float. 

SECTION    FOURTH.       ~ 

STILL-BAITING   FOR   BASS. 

Use  a  stifiish  rod,  like  A,B,C  on  the  page  of  implements. 
It  should  be  from  eight  to  nine  feet  in  length.     The  Japan 


Rig  fok  Bottom  Fishing. 


59 


bamboo  pole,  being  a  rod  without  joints,  of  the  same  lengtli, 
and  mounted  the  same,  with  top  and  guides  of  agate  or  car- 
nelian ;  multiplying  reel  like  I,  which  shall  carry  from  four  to 
six  hundred  feet  of  fine  linen  or  silk  dine.  Linen  is  the  best 
for  bottom  fishing,  but  it  should  be  made  of  the  finest  and 
strongest  flax  or  hemp.  You  may  use  a  double-gut  leader, 
three  fourths  of  a  yard  long,  or  make  a  leader  frc  >ur  line, 
which  I  prefer  when  bottom  fishing  for  bass  ranging  from 
three  pounds  upward ;  then  one  hook  only  is  used.  Use  a 
tracing  sinker  in  the  form  of  a  long  roll  or  cylinder  of  lead, 
three  fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  with  a  hole  for  the  line 
longitudinal,  cutting  oif  the  weight  required  for  a  sinker ;  or 
let  it  be  an  oval  form,  as  represented  by  G,  with  a  swivel  to 
stop  it  at  the  top  end  of  the  leader,  like  J.  The  swivel  should 
be  brass;  all  swivels  for  use  in  salt  water  should  be  brass, 
for  steel  is  soon  corroded.  Thrust  your  line  through  the 
sinker,  and  attach  the  end  of  your  line  to  a  swivel,  and  your 
leader  to.  the  other  end  of  tlie  swivel.  This  leader  may  be 
either  linen  or  double  gut  of  the  silk-worm.  If  the  latter, 
the  hook  wil]  require  tying  or  Avinding  on  with  waxed  thread ; 
if  the  former,  the  hook  should  be  headed  like  a  pin,  and  the 
line  fastened  to  it  by  three  half  hitches,  as  if  for  fishing  with 
menhaden  bait.  Shedder  or  soft-shell  crab  is  preferred  for 
bait ;  but,  if  it  can  not  be  pi     ared,  use  shedder  lobster. 


60 


Fishing  rs  American  Waters. 


I  I 


ab!!.::'  I:::!,".:' £J1:::  t  ^^""  ^^^^  ""■■  »=-  "-e. 

til  tho  ,i,l„ 7  t  '"'  '""'so.  and  fish  toward  it  un 

into  eia„::,::f^,  ^:^:z:zzt " "-'  ^^^^ 

by  the  space,  left  in  the  mer^nTZZM^rHr' 

eti:.Zo^rtLitrr;i-"-^^^^^^^^^^^ 

and,  if  thev  feel  ,l,„  I     ,  ?  "  *""'  '>"<'  'lash  away, 

"b.a.i„,'wa::;t  z  rett;::r,:':;;::?e: '-'-' 

thumbstalirorCts  on  the^h     f  """"''''"  "'""J''  *-'■ 

will  reel  up,  or  he  tvill  ores  lyHn;  and  bvtec  ''^''  ' 
tangled,  you  may  lose  your  fish  After  .n'^-"^^  '"■ 
-  to  require  a  /aff.  if  is  best  io  ifave  bo  L  ,'  ^T  7  ""^' 
•scap-net  in  the  boat  for  such  fishint  ^''''"'  ^'^'^^^ 

Our  sport  bids  fair  to-dav     Wo  hn^rn     i      ^ 
clozen  bass.besido«  a  fev^  l^o         ^'7,^^^'^^^^  t^^en  a 
-   a  Ie^.  .^uetcague  and  biackfish,  and  the 


The  Luxury  of  a  Lunch.  '     Qi 

tide  is  not  yet  full ;  but  perhaps  we  had  better  use  the  last 
of  the  flood  tide  to  help  us  up  to  the  light-house  on  Ber- 
gen Point  Reef,  for  the  best  time  there  is  just  after  the  tide 
has  turned  ebb,  when  I  never  failed  of  an  hour's  brisk  sport. 
Let's,  therefore,  up  with  our  killick  and  man  the  sculls,  which, 
with  the  tide,  will  carry  us  there  in  twenty  minutes. 

Well,  brother  angler,  our  good  arms,  assisted  by  the  tide, 
have  enabled  us  to  arrive  in  time  for  me  to  cast  anchor  on' 
this,  my  favorite  ground.     The  tide  is  just  high-water  slack. 
Our  landmarks  are  right.     Let  go  the  anchor.     Be  seated 
and  ready,  but  do  not  cast  until  the  boat  toles  by  a  decided 
ebb  of  the  tide.    In  the  mean  time  suppose  we  lunch  ?    Now, 
as  we  enjoy  these  broiled  squab,  buttered  biscuit,  and  a  mod- 
icum of  claret  to  moisten  them,  we  will  feast  our  eyes  upon 
the  captivating  scenery.     Comparatively  few  understand  the 
pleasures  of  boat  fishing.    It  is  removed  from  the  dust  and 
hurry-scurry  of  terra  Jirma.     Our  position  enables  us  to  sur- 
vey several  shores  and  the  employments  of  busy  life.     What 
can  be  more  lovely  on  a  mild  autumn  day  than  scenes  like 
these  from  a  boat  ?    We  are  near  enough  to  the  metropolis 
to  hear  its  noises  subdued  into  a  musical  monotone.     That 
raountam  which  you  perceive  at  the  head  of  Newark  Bay— 
of  which  we  are  at  the  foot-is  Snake  Hill,  at  the  confluence 
of  the  waters  of  the  Passaic  and  the  Hackensack,  which  emp- 
ty at  each  prong  of  the  fork  formed  by  the  head  of  this 
bay.     To  the  south  a  few  miles  you  perceive  a  large  city 
whic  1  IS  Newark.     The  spires  of  a  town  still  farther  south' 
are  over  Elizabethtown,  while  two  miles  south  from  us  is 
Ehzabethport.     On  the  Staten  Island  shore,  at  the  east  of  us 
are  New  Brighton,  Factoryville,  Port  Richmond,  and  a  serieJ 
of  buildmgs  and  gardens,  as  a  part  of  the  periphery  of  Staten 
Island      Dn-ectly  in  front  of  us  is  Bergen  Point,  being  a  gar- 
den charniingly  dotted  with  dwellings  of  picturesque  archi- 
ecture^  Do  not  these  scenes  present  subjects  for  contempla- 
tion sufiiciently  enchanting  to  pay  the  artist  for  a  vi«:,.  Jth- 
out  any  sportmg  accessory  ?    Many  innocent  persons  wonder 


62 


Fishing  m  AaiEKicAN  Waters. 


how  a  man  can  "waste"  an  occasional  dav  "of  .1,      ... 
sport  of  anfrlinfr"    Ti,  '*»i"nai  aay     at  the  stun  d 

or  portrayed  by  g„„a  om'izJw^™  t:  Z'T"''"'- 
caps  a«,  ocomotives  fro™  <,,„,,„„,,  ^»  ;:;.  ^  r"""" 

liic  tide  here  appears  to  t^h^  1  =»  i^odcnes. 

turn  than  at  any  'CVoVX^T^l  '""f,"  f^'^^" 
crabs,  as  the  boat  tolos  nearlyrilt  \  J  T  ,"""  *  '^=''' 
the  aock  at  Bergen  Point  k^  1?  f  f  *''°  '""'l""*" : 

Brighton ;  the  sl^ifZe  of  the  Su  ^^  ''""'"'  "'  ^<"^ 
high  chimney  on  Staten  Island  ho  f  1-7"'  ™*''  ^""^  ""•" 
angle  where  onr  boat  rits  a  h  .',  "'°^'";»Scs  form  the 
Light-honse.  and  within  r^in^ 'k^t  f/  ^7'  "^  '»e 

;::t'or " ''-  '^^  -"  ^™  -  th::ig:[;.:r^r-:;' 

.o^:;t::^nx?h::r:^ 
» rtXof:-";"'  ^'™'  ~  -  -rir 

you  have  a  bite  We  ,  tS""'"  "1  ''"''  ^""^  "*  '"''"'"•^ 
playing  a  bass  Indlg  ,  m  ^  rtl^  IT",  "'  7  '^  ^""^ 
tions,  it  will  depend  o^  the 'c  ivTv  bf i  ^  ''r"  ™"'^'- 
in  playing  and  landing  o   'fish '    f™  !     °'  ?"''  '''^"^"'^ 

thegreatestnumber.^IU:ttt':;u    ;t«^^ 
a  pound  to  two  pounds  generally  wi,I.  L7  '"'f-fro™ 

times,  and  a  semi.ooasi™a;vSo™der   W  r™'"  """ 
for  all  that     The  tid»  I,„  pounaer,  but  it  is  rare  sport, 

harder  top  ay     D  ftlvt!?"''  T'  '^"'''  ""''  ""■-  "*»■■<•' 

You  know  George  Wilkes,  of  the  SpikitV     Well  ho  o    IT 
were  one;-  still-baiting  here  and  n«  .,  !       '       "^"^  ^ 

after  taki'nn.  i..f  ,         '        '  ^  ^^^  ^^''^  ^bout  to  leave 

aiiex  takmg  between  thrty  and  fort vhncci    .      i-         "-'^^^j 

the  fish  were  strung,  ami  i.J::^z;:;i:z:i:x 


ihe  stupid 
vv  that  the 
Jnt  dream- 
percussion 
3hes. 

a  decided 
led  a  few 
ndmarks : 
e  at  New 
with  the 
form  the 
it  of  the 
bmerged 
stern  of 

,  and  let 
^ill  cast 
3   rocks, 
t  before 
s  either 
e  condi- 
3xterity 
^ill  take 
! — from 
r  some- 
?  sport, 
ish  are 
iile  not 
^n  bass 
tweu- 
ist  the 

and  I 

leave, 
«hich 
e])ing 


A    MORTIFYING   LoSS. 


6fe 


the  hsh  alive  in  the  water,  parted  as  we  were  in  the  act  of 
hftmg  the  fish  into  the  boat,  and  we  lost  nearly  all  of  them 
The  same  circumstance  happened  here  while  anglino-  with 
George  Austin,  Esq.     Such  luck  is  aggravating  to  a  common 
man,  but  an  angler  soon  learns  that  effects  follow  causes.    If 
you  prefer  to  keep  your  mess  alive,  either  tow  a  fish-car  at 
the  stern  of  your  row-boat  for  placing  them  in,  or  deposit 
them  m  a  net  fastened  lo  a  thole-pin,  or  purchase  the  new  in- 
vention of  a  string  made  of  raw-hide  by  Andrew  Clerk  &  Co. 
It  18  time  for  us  to  reel  up  and  count  our  mess,  for  we  have 
tide  enough  loft,  to  float  us  to  New  Brighton,  where  we  hired 
the  boat  in  the  morning.     Your  count  says  twenty-seven 
ftsh.     VV  ell,  that  is  an  average  take.     We  will  unjoint  our 
rods,  place  them  in  their  cases,  take  up  anchor,  and  you  may 
light  a  regalia,  while  we  enjoy  the  enlivening  scenes  along 
Kill  Van  Kull  on  our  row  to  the  landing.     This  is  the  be 
witching  time  for  driving  along  the  cornice  road  of  Staten 
Island ;  and  that  couple  which  you  now  see  in  a  buggy  oppo- 
site us  think  that  driving  a  fast  horse  on  a  dusty  road  is  fa- 
mous sport.     See  the  cavalcade  of  roadsters  stirrino-  up  the 
aust !     Coaches  with  liverie.l  drivers  and  footmen^re  not 
rare,  and  the  outriders  will  come  next.     But  we  are  at  New 
Brighton,  our  fish  are  basketed,  and  our  boat  returned     We 
will  now  step  on  board  the  steam  ferry-boat  for  New  York 
which  stops  here  every  fifteen  minutes. 

Our  sail  across  the  Bay  of  New  York  to  the  Battery  you 
perc^ive,s  a  continuation  of  the  enlivening  local  and  aq  latie 
views  which  have  blessed  our  eyes  throughout  the  day 

We  must  part  now  with  a  shake  of  the  hand.  Your  steam- 
ship is  to  leave  at  noon  to-morrow,  and  the  engagements  of 
which  I  spoke  to  you  may  prevent  me  from  bidlling  you  L 
oo,age  on  the  deck  of  the  vessel  which  is  to  convey  you  to 
home  and  happiness  in  one  of  the  British  Isles.  mL  the 
blessmgs  which  usually  accompany  true  sportsmen  be  with 
you ;  and  when  thinking  of  this  land  of  long  rivers  and  b  oa 
lands,  I  trust  that  you  will  not  forget  the  sHght  tas'of^^ 


04 


Fisiimo  IN  American  Watees. 


which  yoa  have  experienced  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 

Tmrfishes    r^"  '"^'^^'  '"^  ^"^^^"^  -^  trolling  for  the 
game  fishes  of  our  coast  and  estuaries. 

SECTION  FIFTH. 
CASTING  BAIT  FOB  STRIPED  BASS. 

Casting  menhaden  bait  for  striped  bass  fmm  *i. 
shores  of  the  bays,  estuaries,  and  iSands^io'^^^^ 

"  iHslrf  "*^^^''^  highest  branch  of  ZZl^  f^C 
M  18  mdeed  questionable— when  considorm^  oii  .1  '  "^""g- 
Which  contribute  toward  the  sum  totlfof  ^  '^''  '^'"^"^ 
whether  this  method  of  strined  h!      i  v'^'''  '"  ""^""^- 

actensno  of  the  modem  angler  by  its  energy  of  style  and 
the  exercise  and  activity  necessary  to  success  ^   ' 

the  r?  TJ      ^'"''  '"'*"""S  h-ve  taxed  the  ingenuity  of 

not,like  the  salmon,  stop  to  sfndv  ft  '  f     ^''  ^"'^^ 

>w,h„t  straightwa'y  i.! Trt t  t^oT hr^L^  'T 

be  so  covered  wUh  aJi  '  ''""''"*  ™"  °»  Jewels,  and 

saltwater     Th!',  V  ?f  """  "'  *«  P"°*<''"  ">«"•  from 

Z!l:rC°  '""'  '"""  '-"  '"  ""-  '■™^ed  yX? 
Ws  should  either  be  of  linen  or  hemp,  hawser-laid,  or  of 


Keady  for  the  Gaff. 


1 1 


65 


braided  silk.  The  latter  is  the  easiest  to  cast,  but  not  so 
good  to  fasten  a  fish  by  a  strike,  because  of  its  elasticity, 
while  a  hnen  one  will  respond  at  a  hundred  yards  to  the 
shghtest  strike.  A  linen  line,  formed  of  from  twelve  to 
eighteen  strands,  and  strong  enonah  tn  «„ofoi„  „  ^.„ ^ 


a  vtCilU  \W 


l-.X. 


E 


igut 


06 


Fishing  in  AMiiRicAN  Waters. 


^it' 


llfli 


"f  thirty  ponnds,  should  be  stained  to  the  color  of  the  water 
when  It  forms  the  best  line  possible  for  this  Icind  of  fishing' 
und  .t  shouW  not  be  larger  than  a  salmon  line.   The  buoyaney 
of  the  water,  strength  of  tide,  and  dash  of  the  surf,  render  a 
very  strong  line  indispensable  for  large  bass.    Still,  as  the 
tish  IS  as  gamy  us  a  salmon,  and  full  as  cunning,  the  line 
must  be  hne  and  the  rig  very  clean,  or  he  will  sd^et  every 
,.  ece  of  ehum  thrown  to  him,  and  refuse  the  one  with  a  hook 
>i   It;  or  if  by  chance-wheu  feeding  on  chum-hc  taltes  •, 
l-eee  wnh  a  hook  in  it,  he  rejects  it  h.stantly,  and  befo  t   h 
^ngle    has  tm,o  to  strike,  probably  disth.guishing  tlie  differ- 
«eo  by  the  weight  of  the  hook.     The  m'ost  successful  wlv 
0  angle  fpr  them  is  to  rig  so  clean  that  they  will  grab  the 
ba.t  hke  hungry  dogs,  and  dash  away  for  more,  or  to  keep  i, 
awixy  from  other  fishes.  ^ 

le„'!r~Tl'°",'''  ^",  '"'■°"  "=™"  '"  "•'■S'^*  *■«'  «!-^  i'"=l'««  i" 
ength.     The  two  lower  joints  of  .n.h,  and  the  upper  one  of 

tancewood,  mounted  as  indicated  by  A,  B,  C,  with  silver,  bell- 

metal,  or  brass.     Some  prefer  a  Japan  bamboo  pole,  because 

of  .ts  strength  and  lightness ;  several  gentlemen  o'fth  Pas,,^ 

Island,  Cuttyhunk,  and  West  Island  elubs  are  among  tho^ 

and  a,  these  cubs  include  many  of  our  amateur  expe    s T,' 

«ns  elegant  k.„d  of  fishing,  their  opinions  claim  atCt  on 

Myownopm,on,sthatahighly-fl„ishcd,  well-balanced,  the: 
jomted  rod  ,s  the  best  for  use,  and  of  course  most  convenion, 
tor  carrying  o„  fishing  excursions.     Some  angle,,  havl  job 
ed  bassn,g-rods  made  exclusively  from  split  bamboo  weirf 
.«g  less  than  a  pound,  including  their  silvL  and  jewd  mo^t- 
ugs;  the  objects  attained  being  lightness,  strcgth,  bll 
and  just  elasfcty  enough  for  casting  and  playing  a  fi  h     S 
sockets  and  shoulders  of  the  joints  of  all  rods  for  co    t  am 
estuary  fishing  should  be  lined  and  covered  wit,  t^sam 
metal  used  for  the  bands  and  guide-frames.    Double  gudes 
one  s,de  lined  w,th  jewels  and  the  other  made  of  bell-nict 
*l,  anu  a  jeweled  top,  io,-m  a  good  mounting,  the  shoulde,-, 
be,ng  covered  wth  tlie —mp  T-,!         i     .      -      """""e"- 

tni  „„mfc  mcial  as  the  bauds.     It  is  nei- 


Peeparino  to  Captivate. 


67 


ther  artistic  nor  in  good  taste  to  cover  the  rod  several  inches 
with  bright  metal  for  attaching  the  reel.     Whether  double 
guides  or  patent  ones  are  preferred,  carnelian  or  agate  make 
good  lining  and  tip.     The  tip  should  be  formed  with  a  screw 
to  fit  several  top  joints.     German  silver,  brass,  bell-metal,  oi- 
any  other  metal,  hard  and  still  malleable  enough,  and  which 
will  not  oxydize  in  a  saline  atmosphere,  form  good  mount- 
ings,    A  solid  butt,  without  elaborate  and  heavy  mountings 
to  hold  a  reel,  is  preferable.     If  the  line  does  not  run  on  jew- 
els, bell-metal  is  the  next  best  material,  except  it  be  the  alu- 
minum—a light  metal  of  new  invention  in  combination  and 
manner  of  manufacture— which  is  lighter  than  any  other 
metal,  and  is  said  never  to  oxydize.     Our  fisli  ig-tackle  maii- 
ufiacturers  are  making  trout-reels  of  it,  and;  to  judge  from  ap- 
pearance and  recommendation,  I  should  decide  that  it  is  the 
best  metal  ever  employed  for  reels  and  mountings  of  fishing- 
rods. 

As  no  sinker  is  used  for  assistance  in  casting  menhaden 
bait,  and  as  the  striped  bass  are  extremely  knowing,  the  ne- 
cessity for  a  clean  rig,  and  nothing  to  check  the  impetus  of 
the  bait,  make  up  desiderata  never  to  be  lightly  regarded  by 
the  bass  anjjler. 


Baixs,  Chum-spoon,  and  Thumb-stall. 

No.  1.  The  menhaden— ^?os«5  metihadenr-a  species  of  her- 
ring used  for  bait,  and  showing  the  mark,  back  of  which  a 
bait  is  taken  on  each  side. 

No.  2.  Bait  cut  from  No.  l,the  knife  being  drawn  through 
the  flesh  p4do  at  dotted  line,  but  not  so  deep  as  to  part  tlie 
skin,  but  to  facilitate  folding  like  3. 


I 


68 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Waters. 


No.  3.  Bait  folded  at  dotted  line  and  baited  on  shank-headed 
,   hook,  with  a  half  hitch  of  the  line  cast  round  the  end  of 
bait  to  prevent  it  from  slipping  down  and  filling  the  bend 
of  the  hook.     Some  anglers  cast  one  half  hitch  around  the 
bait  just  below  the  head  of  the  hook,  and  another  round 
the  top  of  the  bait;  it  forms  a  more  compact  bait,  and  bet- 
ter shape  to  cast;  but  bluefishes  are  more  likely  to  cut  the 
line  off  than  when  the  bait  is  secured  by  one  half  hitch 
above  the  hook,  as  represented. 
No.  4.  A  thumb-stall,  knitted  from  heavy  double  and  twisted 
woolen  yarn,  to  be  worn  on  each  thumb,  to  prevent  the 
friction  of  the  line  in  checking  the  too  swift  revolviuo-  of 
the  reel.  "= 

No.  5.  Chum-spoon  for  throwing  minced  fish  with.     After 
taking  a  bait  from  each  side  of  the  menhaden  between  the 
first  dorsal  and  the  tail,  which  is  done  by  first  scalino-  the 
part  from  which  the  bait  is  taken,  then  chop  fine  th'e  re- 
mainder of  the  fish,  head  and  all,  with  a  hatchet  or  bait- 
knife,  and  use  the  spoon  to  cast  it  out  on  the  pool  to  be 
ftshed.     The  spoon  is  about  a  foot  long.     This  chopped-up 
fish  IS  called  "churn,"  and  casting  it  out  is  called  "chum- 
ming,   which  is  continued  until  the  debris  of  half  a  dozen 
menhaden  so  scattered  on  the  water  produces  an  oily  sur- 
face, or  «  slick,"  as  thg  gaffers  call  it,  extending  sometimes 
halt  a  mile  from  shore.    When  bass  smell  it  they  approach 
It  and  follow  the  oily  surface  toward  the  point  where  the 
chum  was  thrown  in,  occasionally  findhig  small  bits  of  men- 
haden, which  the  angler  on  the  rocks  may  see  them  break 
water  to  obtain.     Nearer  and  nearer  the  bass  approach  in 
the  path  of  chum  until  they  arrive  within  casting  distance. 
Ihe  chum  should  be  chopped  very  fine;  some  persons  cast 
m  the  head  of  a  menhaden  whole;  this  is  bad  practice  for 
It  not  only  invites  sharks  and  bluefish,  but  bass'fecd  on  it 
when  they  might  otherwise  take  the  baited  hook. 


Recupeeating  Health. 


69 


SECTION  SIXTH. 

A    DAY    WITH   THE    DOCTOR. — ANGLING   AT   THE    BASSING 

CLUBS. 

Well,  doctor,  having  arrived  at  West  Island,  which  is 
owned  by  an  association  of  gentlemen  who  have  formed 
themselves  into  a  club  for  the  incomparable  enjoyment  of 
angling  for  striped  bass,  they  will  of  course  assign  us  stands 
to  fish  from  to-morrow.  It  is  the  practice  here  for  all  mem- 
bers to  draw  at  night  for  the  choice  of  stands  to  fish  from 
the  next  day. 

Doctor.  A  gentleman  just  handed  me  a  card  containing  u 
"  number,"  and  "  outside  the  Hopper,"  marked  on  it. 

^.  I  perceive  by  the  card  that  the  outside  of  the  Hop- 
per is  assigned  to  us.  Well,  of  course  that  is  owing  to  the 
composition  of  the  club ;  the  members  have  given  us  their 
best  stands.  That  is  a  feature  of  all  the  bassing  clubs ;  and 
besides,  William  C.  Barrett,  Esq.,  is  president  of  this  institu- 
tion, and  he  is  a  sportsman  possessed  of  the  most  discrimin- 
ative sense  of  true  hospitality.  On  the  morrow  we  will  try 
to  do  honor  to  their  estimate  of  us. 

D.  Gentlemen,  as  Mr.  S.  and  myself  are  somewhat  fa- 
tigued, and  would  prefer  to  retire  early,  will  you  have  the 
goodness  to  join  us  in  a  parting  glass  for  the  night  ? 

All  join ;  and  we  retire  with  a  sense  of  good-will  toward 
all  mankind,  and  indulge  school-boy  hopes  of  the  morrow. 

"  While  others  are  brawlyig,  let  anglers  agree, 

And  in  concord  the  goblet  replenish  ; 

'Twill  cost  not  a  care  so  long  as  we  share 

The  cups  of  content  and  of  concord." 

Our  dreams  were  rose-tinted ;  but  the  pleasurable  antici- 
pations  of  the  morrow's  exploits  caused  us  to  awake  early, 
and  I  sounded  the  doctor  before  daylight. 

8.  Hallo,  doctor !  Hosier,  who  is  to  be  our  gaffer,  rapi)C(l 
at  my  door  .and  ^aid  it  was  four  o'clock. 


■ 


/>.  Well,  sir,  I  have  been 


up  an  hour,  and  down  on  the  ]> 


70 


FisHiNo  IN  Amekfcan  Wate 


TER8. 


II 


azza  trying  to  joint  my  rod,  but  I  can  not  get  a  light,  and 
'  daylight  don't  appear," 
A*?.  Bravo !    I'll  be  with  you  in  a  minute. 

2>.  The  sea  fog  sets  in  chilly;  what  say  you  to  a  cocktail 
and  a  cracker  ? 

aS.  Oh!    Do  you  know  where  we  are? 
B.  Certainly;  we  are  near  Plymouth  Rock,  the  blarney- 
stone  of  America.  ^ 

S.  Tush!  I  will  accompany  you,  and  we  will  take  a  sto^ 
machic  and  a  cracker;  but  do  not-for  appearance  sake- 
call  drinks  by  their  ordinary  names  in  this  "  land  of  steady 
habits    where  it  is  unlawful  to  taste  diffusible  stimulants. 

^.  l"  or  medicine  ? 

S.  Of  course  not,  if  prescribed  by  a  physician  ! 

D.  It  was  upon  that  hypothesis  I  ventured  the  invitation 
1  brought  my  diploma  with  me,  and,  aso  doctor,  I  prescribe 
the  potion.  r 

S.  Ahem  I  you  are  right ;  I  feel  that  your  prescription  is 
a  good  antarthritic.  And  now  we  will  hie  to  the  Hopper 
Kocks.  take  our  stands,  joint  our  rods,  and  be  ready  by  the 
time  Hosier  gets  the  fish  chummed  ia  Hosier  calls  up  the 
bass  here  just  as  a  farmer  brings  his  chickens  to  feed.  Let 
us  prepare ;  but  there  is  no  use  to  make  a  cast  before  sunrise 

Moei^.  I've  throwed  in  the  chum  of  six  fish,  an  them 
scups  an  cachockset  comes  up  an  takes  it  just  for  all  the 
vvorld  as  if  they  was  game !  an  I  hain't  seen  nothin  of  no 
bass  yet. 

.  ^  S.  That  is  right,  doctor !  you  have  jointed  your  rod  per- 
fectly;  every  ioint  should  be  driven  home.     Now,  in  fasten- 
•ng  the  hook  to  your  line,  cast  two  half  hitches  with  the  end 
of  your  line  over  the  shank,  just  below  the  head ;  then  turn    ' 
up  the  end  of  the  line,  and  cast  a  half  hitch  over  it  and  the 
shank,  and  turn  the  hook  round  in  the  tie  thus  formed  to  see 
that  it  revolves  easily-cut  off  any  superfluous  end  of  line 
.^ee  how  Hosier  chops  up  the  chum,  and  where  he  throws  it; 
HMd  j!ist  where  he  throws  the  chum,  cast  your  baited  hook.' 


Caitain  Mosier  in  Command. 


71 


Mosier,  bait  the  doctor's  hook.  I  see  luminous  rays  from 
the  God  of  Day,  and  he  will  make  a  splendid  appearance  in 
ten  minutes.  Now,  doctor,  reel  up  your  line,  so  that  the  bait 
will  be  within  a  yard  of  the  top  of  your  rod,  and  make  a  cast 
to  the  whirl  which  you  see  was  made  by  a  bass.  Your  reel 
<>verruns?  That  is  unfortunate.  You  should  keep  your 
thumb  on  the  reel,  and  check  it  as  the  bait  drops  on  the 
water.  Mosier,  bait  my  hook ;  I  have  put  on  a  medium- 
sized  hook  with  a  headed  shank,  and  I  am  going  in  for  the 
Hsh  refused  by  the  doctor. 

Mosier.  Mr.S.,jist  cast  along  there  in  Snecker's  Gap,  for 
they  are  roether  sassy  there  on  the  young  flood. 

S.  Well,  Mosier,  here  goes  for  a  forty-pounder ! 

Mosier.  There !  I  told  you  so ;  I  knew  that  feller  wanted 
breakfast,  an  I  guess  he's  got  enough  to  last  him. 

D.  Mr.  Mosier,  as  I  have  succeeded  in  getting  my  line  out 
of  snarl,  shall  I  cast  now  ? 

Mosier.  Not  quite  yet,  I  guess,  for  there's  no  knowin  where 
that  critter  will  yet  lead  Mr.  S. 

D.  Well,  I  will  take  a  seat  on  the  rock  here,  and  look  at 
the  play.  Ugh  !  that  wave  wet  me  all  over.  Is  it  not  dan- 
gerous to  remain  here? 

Mosier.  No,  sir ;  ony  keep  a  look-out  for  them  ninth  waves ; 
don't  git  down  toward  a  gulch,  but  watch  where  the  waves 
'throw  the  most  water  when  they  break, for  it  allers  depends 
on  the  course  of  wind. 

D.  I  see  your  philosophy  is  correct,  Mr.  Mosier,  and  I  have 
now  got  a  dry  seat.  Mr.  Mosier,  do  you  think  that  fish  will 
ever  be  landed?  He  has  run  nearly  all  the  line  off  the  reel 
already. 

Mosier.  I  can't  say;  there's  no  counting  on  them  chaps 
till  they  are  landed,  if  so  be  you  fish  with  a  pole;  but  if  I 
had  him  on  my  hand-line,  I'd  make  him  come  humming,  and 
sho^i^  no  quarters. 

aS'.  Mosier,  keep  my  line  away  from  the  rocks  with  your 
gaff,  for  he  seems  bent  on  rounding  the  Hopper  Rock,  and 


72 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


its  corn!.™  may  cut  or  chafe  and  part  my  lino.  "  There!  he 
has  tacked  again;  be  ready  to  gaff  him,  if  I  get  hhn  near 
enough,  beiore  he  maltes  another  run 

,i  jf^'r.  ^r  '"'  T'  "  ''"'P'"*'  '"™S^'<''^  "f"™  a»  tbe 
.me ;  she  s  'bout  as  b,g  as  the  hooked  one.     I  mean  to  gaff 

that  one  first     How  like  tarnation  the  feller  fights,  an  tries 

I  t'^Z'u      !  ^'"'^  '^'^  '"^  '•■'"=  ">"*  ^'"'^^  he-;  sitting 
tired.     When  they  curl  themselves  up  on  the  top  of  the  w^- 

not  to  hold  so  hard  as  to  let  'em  break  the  line  with  their  tail 
nor  out  It  off  with  their  back  fin;  nor  so  loose  as  to  lei  Wm 
git  slack  hue  to  unhook,  or  knock  the  hook  out  of  his  .jaw 

hTsts^VT  ^"'  ^-'"-^t-ightenout!  Hehasmik 
his  last  fight,  and  got  whipped  -  His  mate  has  gone.  'Twas 
no  use  for  her  to  stay  an  try  to  help  him  any  longer,  for  she 
knows  he's  dead.  Now,  with  the  heave  and  liaul  of  the  tide 
there  is  more  danger  of  breaking  the  line  an  losing  him  than 
.f  he  was  ahve;  but  here  he  comes,  an  here  goes  the  gaff-a 
forty-pounder  at  least !  b""    J 

has^r**"  ^'""''  ^'°™'' '     ^'™"''  J""  '"  ''""''  '■'"■  th"  ''«<>"' 
Mosier.  Ji«t  so;  I  hain't  no  confidence  m  them  hooks  with 
the  barb  curling  out  so  that  you  can  not  git  it  into  the  flesh 
The  Kmsey  point  an  Sproat  bend,  or  the  O'Shaughncssy  with 
the  Kmsey  pomt,  are  the  best.  J      "i 

Z>.  Well,  my  preconceived  notions  of  bass-fishing  have  all 
been  cast  wide.     When  you  first  hooked  the'bass,  I  thoughr 
could  take  a  seat  and  be  a  quiet  looker-on  at  the  play  but 
I  have  been  so  excited  by  alternate  hopes,  fears,  doubls  and 
surprises,  that  I  want  you  to  pardon  me  for  getting  into  your 
way  several  times.    The  truth  is,  it  astonishes  me  to  see  the 
flsh  on  terra  Jirnu,.    I  thought  him  lost  a  dozen  times  •  and  I 
can  not  now  fully  realize  how  it  is  possible  to  play  success- 
fully  so  large  a  fish,  and  one  so  game,  in  such  bo  sterous 
water,  with  such  slender  tackle.     I  am  really  afraid  to      "L 
make  a  cast,  for  r  expect  if  I  get  a  strike  that  I  shall  ei  her 
break  my  rod,  or  the  fish  will  part  my  lino. 


TllE   DOCTOK  DOING  BeTTEK. 


73 


S.  Hoot !  doctor,  don't  be  too  modest ;  a  man  who  has  shot 
wolves  in  the  Black  Forest,  and  killed  salmon  in  the  Dee  and 
Moisie,  is  not  easily  demoralized  by  a  striped  bass. 

Mosier.  Yes,  doctor,  you  jist  make  a  cast  out  into  the  Rifle 
Pit,  and  do  it  right  away,  for  I  see  by  their  whirls  that  they 
are  hungry. 

S.  See  that  your  thumb-stalls  are  well  on,  and  that  your 
line  is  clear.     Now  reel  up  so  that  your  bait  is  within  two 
feet  of  the  tip  of  your  rod,  and  when  you  cast,  hold  your 
thumb  gently  on  the  reel-line,  and  as  the  bait  touches  the 
water,  press  your  thumb  on  the  line  to  check  the  reel  at  once, 
and  prevent  the  reel  from  overrunning. 
B.  Well,  here  goes  for  a  second  trial.      ' 
S.  Very  fair  cast ;  far  enough  for  bass  at  this  stage  of  tide. 
D.  Ye— ye— es,  I  see  it  is,  but  then  I  shall  not  be  able  to 
save  him— I  know  I  can  not,  for  he  runs  and  pulls  so  like  a 
reindeer  that  I  can  not  check  him.     There !  my  thumb-stall 
is  loose,  and  I  feel  that  my  reel  is  not  tight.    He's  gone !    1 
knew  1  couldn't  save  him. 

S.  Don't  be  so  excited,  doctor;  keep  cool,  and  reel  in  your 
slack  line;  he  is  only  studying  a  new  dodge  or  making  a  new 
tack. 

Mosier.  He  breaks  water;  I  seen  him;  he's  a  scrouger! 

S.  There,  doctor,  you  perceive  he  has  hove  to  for  a  lunar, 
and  to  discover  how  to  tack;  there!  he  is  now  laying  his 
course^for  Newport ;  reel  as  fast  as  you  can,  and,  if  necessary, 
i-un  back  to  prevent  him  from  getting  slack  line. 

I).  This  last  turn  and  the  dash  of  spray  nearly  capsized 
me.  Why,  he  plays  as  strong  as  he  did  when  he  was  first 
hooked. 

S.  How  long  do  you  suppose  you  have  played  him  ? 
2>.' Nearly  an  hour,  and  he  seems  to  grow  stronger  and 
stronger. 

8.  It  is  not  yet  fifteen  minutes  since  you  hooked  him ;  bear 
up,  keep  cool,  and  keep  your  line  clear  on  the  reel,  and  be 
prepared  for  his  fight.     They  do  not  appear  to  be  in  a  mood 


T4 


Fishing  in  American  Waters, 


I 


for  sulking  this  morning ;  sometimes  they  settle  behind  rocks 
and  butt  the  hook  against  them  to  spring  it  out. 

Mosier.  Don't  you  hold  him  a  leetle  too  taut  ? 

B.  I  don't  know;  but  I  can  not  play  him  easier,  for  when 
1  give  him  an  inch,  he  takes  a  rod ! 

S.  He  will  soon  stop  for  his  final  fight.  See !  he  is  prepar- 
ing Now  ease  the  line  a  trifle,  and  trust  to  the  chance  of 
his  being  well  hooked. 

, .  ^'  ,?"';  ^T'  ^  ^"^"^  ^'  ^'  •  -^"^^  ^^^  the  fellow  throw 
himself  like  Pat  McAroon  in  a  street-fight.  There,  he's  off' 
iNo,  he  IS  not ;  what's  to  be  done  ? 

S  Reel  up  gently ;  he  is  dead ;  that  is,  he  has  fought  until 
he  has  fainted.  Gingerly,  doctor;  reel  with  the  incoming 
surt,  and  slacken  with  the  ebb— there  I 

JfW.  He  is  a  game  one,  and  will  weigh  over  twenty 
pounds.  They're  allays  hifalorum  in  them  liifle  Pits  »  Gen- 
tlemen, the,  breakfast  horns  has  been  bio  win  a  good  while 

^.  I  am  Jilted.     These  rocks  are  rough  to  run  about' on 
and  play  a  fish,  when  every  now  and  then  Neptune  drenches 
one  with  spray.     I  had  long  heard  that  striped  bass  were 
game,  but  all  that  I  evei-  heard  or  read  did  not  prepare  me 
for  such  encounters  as  I  have  seen  and  realized  this  morning 
1  am  not  now  surprised  that  Americans  consider  this  the  head 
of  game  fishes.     The  u.cessories  of  fishing  for  it,  the  scenes 
where  it  is  taken,  together  with  the  modus  operandi  of  its 
capture  by  artistic  means,  render  the  sport  the  most  exciting 
that  I  know  of  under  the  head  of  angling.     I  shall  certaini; 
prescribe  something  to  steady  my  nerves.     Eh  Hen!    To 
breakfast  is  the  order;  and  as  we  have  taken  tv.o  grand  bass 
ne  quid  nimis,  we  will  even  leave  off  fishing  while  they  are 
feeding,  which,  for  the  vulgar  object  of  ourselves  feeding  is 
with  a  real  angler,  an  unpardonable  offense  against  the  *s- 
hetics  of  sport.     But,  though  belonging  to  the  refined  con- 
fraternity of  anglers,  our  excuse  is  that  we  are  rigged  with 
human  necessities. 

As  the  breakfagt-table  is  \ho  mr»vni«~'-  ■^- ,   i-        t 

•♦PI  lauit.  IS  u\c  moiniiig  a  LiyHting-piace  for 


Breakfast  and  Departuke. 


75 


the  members  of  the  chxb,  where  they  recount  their  exploits 
over  their  tea  and  coffee,  with  broiled  bluefish,  striped  bass, 
and  scopogue,  or  with  broiled  chicken  and  beefsteak,  the  ten- 
der of  congratulations  to  my  friend  for  his  success,  and  the 
stories  of  successful  takes  by  some,  and  of  parting  tackle  with 
others,  acted  as  charming  opiates  to  witch  away  the  time ; 
and  when  we  rose  from  table  we  saw  our  yacht  hove-to,  and 
the  sails  flapping  an  invitation  for  us  to  step  on  board.  With 
great  reluctance  and  regret  we  parted  from  the  members  of 
the  West  Island  Club,  and  the  most  attractive  five-acre  island 
in  America. 

The  sail  to  Cuttyhunk  was  remarkably  interesting,  present- 
ing views  of  the  picturesque  landscape,  alternating  with  vil- 
las and  foliage  on  Massachusetts  shore,  and  the  group  of  Eliz- 
abeth Islands  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  with  No  Man's  Land 
peering  above  the  waves  far  out  in  the  ocean.  We  arrived  be- 
fore lunch-time,  and,  having  examined  the  trout  preserve,  the 
black  bass  and  white  perch  ponds,  and  taken  each  a  couple  of 
striped  bass  from  that  incomparable  stand, "  Bass  Rock,"  we 
adjourned  to  dinner,  where  we  were  regaled  with  choice  vi- 
ands, wines,  and  the  recital  of  angling  exploits  by  the  mem-, 
bers  of  the  club,  who  are  justly  celebrated  as  amateur  experts 
with  rod  and  reel. 

After  dinner  we  shook  hands  as  an  au  revoir,  mais  pas 
adieu,  and  ran  over  to  Pugne  Island,  to  drop  in  upon  John 
Anderson,  Esq.,  and  learn  from  him  what  charms  he  could 
see  in  his  little  island  home  of  a  hundred  acres  to  induce  a 
millionaire  of  his  industrious  proclivities  and  habits— with- 
out a  knowledge  or  taste  for  field-sports  or  yachting— to 
shut  himself  out  thus  from  the  enjoyments  of  the  greatest 
and  most  social  city  in  the  Union— his  birth-place,  where  he 
has,  by  enterprise,  accumulated  a  fortune,  and  possesses  one 
of  the  finest  residences  in  the  metropolis.  He  infonned  us 
that  the  charming  climate,  with  the  constant  feast  to  his  eyes 
in  scenery,  made  up  of  the  main  land  and  the  islands,  witli 
the  ever-changing  aspect  of  the  sea,  filled  his  soul  with  rap- 


76 


Fishing  in  Americvn  WArEEs. 


tui-e  and  made  his  cup  of  happiness  full  to  overflowing. 
With  a  promise  to  visit  him  before  taking  final  leave  of 
Vineyard  Sound,  we  steered  for  :•..,,,.■.  Island,  only  six  miles 
distant. 

Here  we  found  a  club-house  with  appointments  calculated 
to  render  not  only  the  members  of  the  club  and  their  families' 
comfortable,  but  all  such  guests  as  members  of  the  associa- 
■    tion  thmk  proper  to  extend  invitations  to.     The  island  in- 
cludes more  than  a  thousand  acres,  whicl.  uie  club  has  divid- 
ed into  two  farms,  erected  commodious  buildings,  including 
club-house,  ice-house,  stabling,  etc:     The  club  has  also  vege- 
table and  flower  gardens,  sail-boats  and  row-boats,  and  the 
river,  which  sets  back,  a  mile  into  the  island,  is  stocked  with 
a  hundred  thousand  menhaden  as  bait  for  the  use  of  the  club 
Ih.s  IS  the  neplus  ultra  of  a  place  for  angling,  beinc  sep- 
arate by  a  strait  half  a  mile  wide  from  Norshon,  which  is 
nine  miles  m  length  by  two  miles  wide,  fifteen  miles  from  the 
main  land,  and  stocked  with  all  the  English  and  Scotch  <rame 
birds  and  most  of  their  game  animals,  including  also  several 
hundred  American  deer,  prairie-fowl,  etc.     It  also  contains  a 
large  pond  well  stocked  with  black  bass,  besides  several  perch 
ponds;  the  latter  is  not  regarded  as  a  very  valuable  acces- 
sory to  any  piece  of  real  estate,  for  perch  fishing  is  not  eon- 
sidered  sport  in  America.     I  mean  the  common  yellow  perch 
with  barred  sides;  but  the  white  perch,  like  those  of  Cutty- 
hunk,  offer  good  sport  to  ladies  and  children,  and  are  a  vei-v 
good  pan-fish,  ranging  in  size  from  three  ounces  to  three 
pounds. 

We  remained  at  Pasque  Island  several  days,  most  of  the 
time  angling  for  striped  bass,  but  occasionallv,  on  a  dark 
day  spending  it  in  a  cruise  after  swordfish,  which  we  took 
with  the  harpoon.  Other  days  we  rowed  a  little  boat  out  a 
hundred  rods  from  shore,  when  we  put  down  killick  and  still- 
baited  for  squeteague,  weighing  from  five  to  fifteen  pound, 
each.  Then,  again,  if  the  bluefish  came  in  such  shoals  as  to 
turn  our  strait  into  a  state  of  ...ommotion  resembling  soai,- 


ATTEAOnONS   OF    THE   El.IZABETH   IsLANDS. 


77 


Huds,  we  rigged  to  the  end  of  our  bass-line  about  two  feet  of 
piano  wire,  on  which  we  wound  a  hook  with  copper  wire. 
Then  Ave  anchored  on  the  edge  of  the  tide,  and  cast  out  a 
hook  baited  without  much  care,  and  the  moment  afterward 
we  were  aluted  by  a  jerk  and  a  summersault  a  yard  clear 
of  the  surtiice,  and  a  short,  vigorous  fight  to  bring  the  blue- 
fish  to  gaff.  An  hour  of  energetic  sport,  and  twenty  bluefish 
of  from  eight  to  twelve  pounds  each,  generally  satisfied  us; 
and  though  the  fish  challenged  us  by  menacing  leaps  to  con- 
tinue the  contest,  we  preferred  to  retire — however  ignomini- 
ous it  might  ap[»ear  to  them— ancl  recuperate  for  another 
time. 

It  was  hard  to  part  from  those  charming  scenes  and  the 
healthful  recreation.  The  doctor  decided  to  return  home  to 
England,  arrange  his  business,  come  back,  and  spend  his  life 
at  Pasque  Island.  But  how  to  leave  those  captivating  aquatic 
scenes,  ranging  from  simple  loveliness  to  grand-ur,  and  some- 
times rising  to  sublimity  ?  What  scene  can  be  more  refresh- 
ing and  exalting  than  an  expansive  view  of  the  mighty  waves, 
dotted  here  and  there  with  such  beautiful  islands  as  those  in 
*  the  Vineyard  Sound  ?  The  Elizabeth  Islands  oifer  the  condi- 
ments of  existence  to  season  the  dry  hurry-scurry  and  com- 
monplaceism  of  the  business  world  on  the  main  lands  of 
America ;  and  they  will,  before  many  years,  be  numbered 
with  the  Avatering-places  of  the  world  par  excellt  ace.  '  While 
aquatic  birds  skim  the  waves,  and  the  gulls  sa-  screaming, 
dipping,  and  darting  over  a  shoal  of  bluefish  or  menhaden, 
vessels  outward  and  homeward  bound  are  always  passing,  for 
it  includes  in  its  'ange  of  view  the  packets  and  steamers  for 
England,  and  th*  steam  and  sailmg  crafts  between  New  York 
and  Boston.  We  have  lere  the  foreground  and  perspective 
worthy  the  pencil  of  Claude  de  Lorraine,  while  the  back- 
ground is  formed  of  the  granite  shores  ofMassar  lusetts,  with 
its  improvements  so  varied  and  important  as  to  give  surety 
of  an  intelligent  and  industrious  population.  Who  would  not 
delight  to  angle  here  ? 


78 


Fishing  in  American  Wai-ers. 

"  Eternal  ocean !  old  majestic  sen ! 
Ever  I  love  from  shore  to  shore  to  look  on  thee, 
And  sometimes  on  thy  billowy  back  to  ride, 
And  sometimes  o'er  thy  summer  breast  to  glide ; 
But  let  me  /he  on  land,  where  rivers  run  ; 
Where  shady  trees  may  screen  me  from  the  sun  ; 
Where  I  may  feel,  serene,  the  fragrant  air  ; 
Where,  whatever  toil  or  wearying  pains  I  bear, 
Those  eyes  which  look  away  all  human  ill 
May  shed  on  me  their  still,  sweet,  constant  light, 
And  the  hearts  I  love  may,  day  and  night, 
Be  found  beside  me,  safe  and  clustering  still,'" 


Tackle  for  "Weakfisii. 


79 


Weakfish,  ok  JSqueteague. —Zairj(»  Squeteague. — Storer. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WEAKFISH,  OR  SQUKTEAGUE. 
Xiiis  fish  is  considered  the  second  in  interest  by  the  angler 
of  the  coast  and  esiuaries  of  our  Eastern  and  Middle  States. 
It  never  visits  fresh  water,  and  either  spawns  along  the  sea- 
shores, or  on  deep  middle-grounds  of  estuaries  or  bayous,  the 
latter  being  small  bays  and  back-sets  of  tide  waters.     It  is 
probably  a  family  of  the  Clupea  genus,  one  of  the  marked 
characteristics  of  which  is  that  it  contains  roe  in  different 
stages  of  approximate  maturity,  though  this  fish  differs  by 
continuing  to  spawn  at  different  times  from  the  last  of  March 
until  the  first  of  November.     It  is,  therefore,  quite  probable 
that  the  squeteague  visits  our  shores  to  spawn,  and  that  it  re- 
mains during  the  spawning  season ;  and  if  it  be  true  that  the 
time  of  their  stay  is  regulated  by  the  duration  of  their  spawn- 
ing season,  then  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  they  spawn 
along  the  t^-m   of  time  between  March   and  November, 
though  th^  b^st  time  to  angle  for  the  squeteague  is  from  the 
first  of  June  until  October.     From  the  middle  of  June  until 
September  the  tidal  parts  of  rivers  from  Chesapeake  Bay  to 
Vineyard  Sound  actually  teem  with  them.     I  have  taken 
with  light  bassing-tackle,  comprised  of  a  nine-foot  jointed 
rod,  a  reel  carrying  jj  hundred  yards  of  fine  linen  line,  a  s1*lv<sl 
sinker,  single-gut  leader,  hooks   snelled  on  single  gut,  like 
those  represented  on  the  plate  for  taking  small  striped  bass, 
medium-sized  cork  float,  and  shrimp  bait,  on  many  occasions 


41 


i\ 


so 


Fishing  in  Ameuican  Watekh. 


<!• 


.1  p.'iir  a  niinuto  for  Homo  timo ;  but  tho  fish  would  not  scale 
over  halt"  a  ]»ou;id  each.  Shoals  of  them  rise  to  the  surface^ 
like  mackerel,  at  full  tide,  and  take  bait  as  fast  as  it  can  be 
cast  to  them ;  but  after  they  sink  it  is  useless  to  angle  longer 
for  them.  Then  you  will  generally  hear  a  croaking  sound  in 
the  water  all  round  your  boat,  which  indicates  their  presence; 
but  while  croaking  they  will  seldom  bite.  They  generally 
croak  for  half  a  minute  after  being  landed. 

At  full  tide  slack  I  once  n»wed  out  from  the  Bath  Hotel, 
where  I  was  passing  the  summ<  r,  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  Co- 
ney Island  Creek,  where  I  took  eighiy-four  squeteague  withui 
forty  minutes.  They  averaged  about  three  quarters  of  a 
l)ound.  This  was  in  July.  At'  every  cast  I  hooked  a  pair, 
and  lished  as  expertly  as  i)ossible  until  a  shoal  of  porpoises 
ai)proached,  when  tho  squeteague  settled,  or  sank,  and  quit 


bitmg. 


This  is  a  white-mented  fish,  the  meat  rather  mealy  when 
small;  l)ut  after  it  scales  ten  pounds  it  becomes  as  Haky  as 
a  salmon,  and  resembles  one  very  much,  except  in  its  being 
a  S(piare-tail.     It  is  an  excellent  ))an-tish  if  cooked  when  first 
caught,  being  free  from  tlie  flavor  of  any  foreign  substance; 
but  it  soon  deteriorates,  and  its  juices  become  absorbed.     In 
])oint  of  delicacy  of  fl.-ivor,  many  eincures  prefer  it  to  cither 
the  strl|)ed  })ass  or  bluefish.     Its  eyes  being  oval,  it  is  sup- 
posed to  possess  the  strongest  sight  of  any  estuary  fish.    Al- 
though it  has  no  teeth  on  the  tong;ie  or  in  the  throat,  its  jaws 
are  armed  with  pn^tty  strong  and  sharp  ones,  which  are  set 
so  far  apart  as  to  i)revent  it  from  biting  off  a  gut  snell.     Its 
mouth  is  very  bony,  and  the  nieat  being  tender,  it  is  thertv 
fore  liable  to  unhook  easily  by  the  hook  tearing  a  large  ori- 
fice, or  not  taking  sutticient  deinii  of  hold.     I  therefore  rec- 
ommend a  hook  of  fine  wire,  well  tempered,  and  of  large  bend. 
The  rushing  bite  of  a  s(pu>teague  is  i)recisely  like  that  of  a 
brook  trout,  but  its  play  is  of  shorter  duration,  and  it  sooner 
yiehis  to  fatigue. 

The  shape  of  the  S(pu'teague  is  represented  bv  the  engrav- 


SpoKTIVE   EsTUAKY   F18IIING. 


I! 

81 


ing,  and  its  colors  arc  gray,  masculated  on  the  bacK  and 
down  to  the  middle  of  tlie  sides  with  clouded  spots  of  dark- 
er shade,  and  all  terminating  in  a  gold-colored  belly,  pecto- 
ral, ventral,  and  anal  fins.  The  dorsals  and  tail  are  clouded 
like  tlie  l)ack.  The  first  dorsal  is  composed  of  spiked  rays, 
and  the  second  soft. 

In  angling  for  lai-ge  squetcague  about  the  ^Jizabetli  Isl- 
ands and  in  the  Vineyard  Sound,  heavy  combination  tracing 
sinkers  are  used,  and  the  shank-headed  bass-hook,  baited  with 
menhaden,  is  preferred.  There  they  are  taken  by  still-bait:. ig 
from  a  boat  anchored  from  thirty  to  fifty  rods  from  shore,  in 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  water.  The  squeteague  is  one 
of  the  swiftest  fishes  of  the  square-tails,  and  its  ready  and 
dashing  bite,  and  short  fight,  render  angling  for  it  with  light 
bass-tackle  as  exciting  as  for  almost  any  other  fish  of  our  es- 
tuaries. For  the  very  small  fish  shrimp  is  the  best  bait ;  for 
the  yellow-fins  shedder  crab  is  the  best ;  but  for  those  of  the 
largo  and  rounded  form  of  the  salmon,  the  menhaden  bait  is 
generally  preferred. 

It  is  almost  supei-fluous  to  state  that  angling  in  the  tide- 
ways witli  success  requires  that  attention  be  paid  to  the 
stages  of  the  tide.     In  general,  squeteague  bite  best  on  the 
second  half  of  the  flood  tide,  but  there  are  places  where  they 
bite  best  on  the  ebb.     If  outside  the  mouth  of  a  river,  the 
first  of  the  flood  is  best,  while  well  up  the  estuary  they  begin 
biting  when  the  tide  is  half  up,  and  continue  until  half  ebb. 
Though  feeding-ground  for  squeteague  is  in  deeper  water 
than  is   cliosen  by  striped  bass,  yet  they  generally  forage 
along  the  bank  of  the  channel.     I  have  frequently  anchored 
my  boat  so  that,  angling  with  the  tide,  I  was  sure  to  take 
nothing  but  strijHHl  bass,  but  by  casting  to  the  right  or  left, 
outside  the  bank,  within  tlu'oe  rods  of  the  boat,  I  would  t^ke 
nothing  but  squeteague,  and  an  occasional  blackfisli  or  tautog. 
In  a  commercial  ])oint  of  view  the  squetcague  is  important. 
The  runs  of  shad  up  our  rivers  cease  about  the  first  week  in 
Tune,  Avhen  the  squeteague  become  numerous  in  our  bays  and 

F 


82 


FiSilING   IN  AmEKICAN  WaTEKS. 


I 


i 


I 


the  estuaries  of  the  larger  rivers.  Great  quantities  are  tlien 
taken  in  seines,  pounds,  and  set-nets,  which  supply  the  marble 
stands  of  the  markets  lately  vacated  b^  the  shad.  The  sque- 
teague  at  this  time  divides  interest  with  the  earlv  run  of  blue- 
fish,  and  about  the  middle  of  June  the  sheepshead  visit  us, 
when  the  variety  includes  also  tauiog  and  black  bass,  with 
the  bonetta,  cero,  and  the  incomparable  Spanish  mackerel. 
These  do  not  include  any  of  the  fresh-water  fishes,  of  which 
the  black  bass  is  very  numerous  in  June. 

SECTION  SECOND. 
SOUTHERN   SEA  TKOUT. 

From  Delaware  Bay  all  along  the  Southern  coast,  and  in 
the  estuaries  of  rivers  which  debouch  into  a  bay  or  arm  of 
the  Atlantic,  this  fish  is  taken  in  great  numbers  with  nets 
and  angling  tackle,  and  is  known  as  the  "  sea  trout."  Both 
its  habits  ar>d  play  are  so  much  like  those  of  the  squcteague, 
or  weakfish,  that  anglers  along  the  coast  of  New  Jersey 
term  it  the  spotted  weakfish,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  oth- 
er, Avhich  they  call  the  mottled  weakfish ;  but  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  coast  from  Delaware  to  Florida  know  it  only  as 
the  "  sea  trout,"  or  "  spotted  silversides." 


Southern  Sea  Trout. — "  Otolithus  rcyalis." 

The  body  of  the  sea  trout  is  more  round,  and  it  is  smaller 
from  the  tail  to  the  second  dorsal  and  anal  fins  than  the  weak- 
fish or  squeteague.  Its  meat  is  also  firmer,  and  the  flakes 
closer  and  more  compact,  while  its  silver-gray  back  and  sides 
are  of  a  bluish  tint,  which  shines  like  burnished  steel,  and  its 
belly  and  the  lower  fins  are  white,  without  a  yellow  tinge. 


Eesorts  of  Sea  Teout.  83 

It  is  also  sprinkled  all  over,  including  its  dorsal  fins  and  tail, 
with  jet  black  dots  about  the  size  of  a  pea. 
^^  Professor  Mitchill,  in  writing  of  the  squeteague,  states : 
"A  beautiful  variety  of  this  fish  is  sometimes  seen  with  the 
following  characters,  to  wit :  Spotted  squeteague— [Lab.  Sq. 
mamlatus].     There  are  black,  well-defined  spots  among  the 
specks  over  the  back  and  sides,  and  checkering  the  caudal 
and  second  dorsal  fins.     The  pectoral  fins  are  rather  small ; 
ventral  and  anal  fins  not  yellow,  birt  brownish.     The  parts' 
thus  variegated  with  spots  have  a  pretty  appearance."  With- 
out doubt,  the  professor  alluded  to  the  Southern  sea  trout; 
and  as  it  shoals  with  the  squeteague,  and  only  visits  the 
shores  of  New  Jersey  occasionally  and  in  small  numbers,  he 
<lid  not  see  proper  to  distinguish  it  by  other  than  a  peculiarly 
marked  variety  of  the  squeteague ;  whereas  it  differs  more 
palpably  from  the  squeteague  than  do  some  families  of  the 
mackerel  tribes,  eminently  the  Spanish  mackerel  and  the  cero, 
which  differ  only  in  the  color  of  their  spots,  the  first  being 
gold  color,  and  the  latter  black. 

The  sea  trbut  is  superior  to  the  squeteague  as  a  table-fish ; 
its  scales  are  about  the  same  size,  but  firmer,  brighter,  and 
not  so  viscid.  As  a  game  fish,  it  is  fully  equal  to  the  sque- 
teague, as  free  a  biter,  and  as  readily  netted.  Both  fishes  are 
summer  spawners,  laying  from  175,000  to  700,000  eggs. 

The  sea  trout  appears  along  the  coast  and  estuaries  of  the 
Southern  States  nearly  all  the  year  round,  but  takes  the  hook 
most  freely  from  Juno  until  December.  It  is  taken  of  all 
sizes  between  a  pound  and  fifteen  pounds'  weight,  and  if  there 
is  a  difference  in  game  between  this  fish  and  the  squeteague, 
it  is  in  favor  of  the  sea  trout,  which  is  a  heavier  fish  of  its 
size,  and  rather  more  elaborately  rigged  with  fins.  It  should 
be  angled  for  in  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  tackle 
used  ibr  taking  squeteague ;  and  shedder  crab  is  its  weak- 
ness. But  as  all  the  shores  and  estuaries  of  the  South  are 
alive  with  crabs,  as  well  as  other  erustacea,  baits  are  easily 
obtained  for  striped  bass,  trout,  golden  mullet,  hogfish,  grunt- 


84 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


ers,  sheepsliead,  and  several  other  species  of  anglers'  fishes, 
all  of  which  are  much  more  numerous  than  they  are  in  the 
latitude  of  New  York.     Fishes  for  the  troll  are  also  very  nu- 
merous along  the  coost  of  the  Southern  States ;  such,  for  ex- 
ample, as  the  Spanish  mackerel, bonetta,  or  bonito,  pompineau, 
redfish,  cero,  and  bluefisli ;  and  while  gunners  extend  their 
sporting  tours  as  far  south  as  the  Floridas,  and  west  to  the 
Itocky  Mountains,  anglers  seem  contented  with  trouting  in 
spring,  visiting  Canada*  for  salmon  in  summer,  and  casting 
the  hook  baited  with  menhaden  for  bass  in  the  surf  alono-  tL 
rocky  shores  of  the  Atlantic  in  the  autumn.    But  it  would  be 
well  worth  while  to  make  an  angling  tour  southward  in  au- 
tumn; and  such  as  may  desire  to  extend  the  sporting  season 
would  do  well  to  take  a  trip  to  Washington,  and  angle  for 
striped  bass  below  the  falls  of  the  Potomac;  thence  to  Nor- 
folk, for  meeting  the  Spanish  mackerel,  striped  bass,  sea  trout, 
and  hogfish— a  great  delicacy— and  other  fishes  of  the  coast. 
If  the  sportsman  be  a  relative  of  Nimrod,  he  may  close  the 
season's  sport  along  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  by  shooting 
wild  geese,  and  .the  numerous  varieties  of  duck  whica  congre- 
gate there  in  myriads. 

SECTION  THIRD. 

SIIEEPSIIEAD. 

At  mouth  of  river,  or  where  deep 
O'er  mussel-beds  the  bay  tides  sweep, 
Tlie  bulky  sheepshead  loves  to  hie 
When  Slimmer  suns  ride  hot  and  diy  ; 
And  there,  for  hours,  in  anchor'd  boat, 
Hopeful,  the  patient  anglers  float, 
Only  too  happy  if  a  score 
Of  dainty  fish  enrich  their  store. 

The  sheepshead  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  on  the  list 
of  anglers'  fishes.  It  is  a  dinner-fish,  and  by  many  termed 
the  American  turbot,  because  it  frequently  figures  at  alder- 
manic  dinners.  It  is  really  a  delicious  fish  when  either  boiled 
o-  stuffed  and  baked.  It  usually  makes  its  apj)earance  in  our 
bays  and  estuaries  about  the  first  of  June,  and  remains  unT,il 


Ous  Aldekmanic  Fish. 


85 


the  middle  of  September;  but  it  does  not  visit  s^^reams  above 
the  estuary,  and  is  found  in  greatest  numJiors  along  the  mus- 
sel shoals  or  beds,  and  around  old  wrecks  in  the  bays.   When 
it  first  makes  its  appearance  in  our  waters  it  is  thin  and 
lean,  but  it  soon  increases  in  plumpness  and  succulence,  so 
that  from  an  average  weight  of  four  pounds  early  in  June, 
it  increases  to  nine  pounds  by  the  middle  of  August.     Its 
maximum  w^eight  is  twenty  pounds,  but  the  runs  along  tlie 
coasts  of  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey,  where  they  are  confess- 
edly in  best  condition  and  flavor,  seldom  range  higher  than 
from  ten  to  fifteen  pounds.     Its  mouth  is  paved  throughout 
the  roof  and  lower  jaw  with  square  teeth  of  flat  surface,  li'ie 
eight-inch  square  mosaic,  but  rather  larger  at  the  outer  edge 
of  the  jaw,  where  its  even  teeth  resemble  those  of  a  sheep, 
from  which  it  is  supposed  its  name  is  derived.     But  the  teeth 
are  not  sharp,  and  there  is  space  between  them  for  a  fish-line 
to  play,  so  that  it  seldom  parts  a  line,  or  even  a  single  gut 
snell,  while  mussels  and  clams  are  instantly  crushed  to  pow- 
<ler  by  its  powerful  jaws. 


JShk;  iiH';A;>. — Sftonis  ovis. — DeKay. 

Its  scales  are  lav;  •,  and  surpass  in  brilliancy  the  highest 
metallic  polish  ;  they  are  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  haid. 
and  radiate  from  concentric;  lines,  lapping  so  as  to  form  a  de- 
fense on  the  back  and  sides   agahisl  ii  blunt-pointed  gaff. 


86 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Hi 

rif 


The  crescent-shaped  bands  on  each  side  are  sometimes  quite 
black  on  the  back,  and  lighten  gradually  to  a  dark  gray  tint 
near  the  belly.     The  color  of  the  fish  is  neutral-tinted  on  the 
back,  which  lightens  gradually  to  the  lateral  line,  below  which 
it  is  like  white  chetie  silk.     The  spiked  dorsal  fin  is  followed 
by  a  second  of  soft  rays.     The  upper  ray  of  the  pectoral  fin 
IS  spiked.     Its  eyes  are  large,  and  almost  beam  with  intelli- 
gence.    The  cheeks  are  often  tinged  with  a  pinky  glow ;  and 
when  first  raised  from  the  water,  and  lying  exhausted  and  mo- 
tionless in  the  landing-net,  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and. 
happy-looking  objects  ever  raised  above  the  sparkling  wave. 


Hooks  and  Sinkers  for  Sheepshead 


Examine  youe  Tackle. 


87 


As  the  play  of  the  sheepshead  yields  a  new  sensation  to 
the  amateur  who  for  the  first  time  indulges  the  penchant  of 
angling  for  this  dinner  luxury,  and  as  the  modus  operandi  of 
its  capture  is  somewhat  peculiar,  the  opposite  sketch  is  giv- 
en to  indicate  the  forms  and  sizes  of  the  hooks  and  sinkers 
used  by  anglers  with  rod  and  reel,  and  by  members  of  the 
hand-line  committee. 

No,  1.  Hook  of  the  Sproat  bend,  small  but  strong,  of  finest 
^     tempered  steel,  and  the  short  point  and  barb  sharpened  like 
a  fine  knife-blade,  not  round  and  needle-pointed  like  those 
for  striped  bass  and  squeteague.     There  is  a  fine  ginip-wire  • 
loop  wound  to  the  shank  with  fine  waxed  sewing  silk  or 
fine  linen  thread.     I  recommend  waxed  linen  thread  when 
snells  are  wound  to  hooks  for  any  of  the  respectable  sized 
game  fishes  of  our  estuaries ;  for  fresh  water,  silk  is  pref- 
erable. 
No.  2.  Shank-headed  hook,  with  the  line  fastened  below  the 
head  by  two  or  three  half  hitches,  the  same  as  for  use  in 
fishing  for  large  striped  bass.     In  fastening  the  line  to  the 
hook,  cast  the  two  half  hitches  around  below  the  head,  then 
turn  up  the  end  of  the  line  and  cast  another  half  hitch  over 
the  shank  and  the  end  of  line,  filling  the  space  to  the  head. 
Then  ctra\rthe  hitch  tight,  cut  off  the  end  of  line  even  with 
the  head  of  hook,  and  turn  the  hook  in  the  tie  until  it  turns 
easily,  and  you  have  the  best  possible  hook-rigging.     The 
hook  should  be  made  of  finest  tempered  steel,  and  the  point 
very  sharp,  or  it  will  be  either  turned  or  broken  in  the  mo- 
saic pavement  of  the  mouth  before  it  slides  to  the  rim  of 
the  jaw,  and  by  the  turn  of  the  fish  fastens  the  hook  in  the 
lip  or  corner  of  the  mouth. 
No.  3.  This  is  the  size  of  hook  for  hand-line  fishing,  at  which 
a  large  business  is  done  during  July  and  August,  and  some- 
times throughout  September.     There  is  a  greater  number 
caught  by  the  hand-line  than  by  sweep-nets  or  seines,  the 
only  other  methods  of  taking  them  for  market.     The  Vir- 
ginia bend,  like  3,  with  knife-blade  edges  of  barb  and  point, 


88 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Wa 


TEK8. 


IS  preferred;  and  the  fine  but  strong  linen  leader,  or  twist- 
ed or  braided  hair  leader  a  yard  long,  is  armed  with  a  h  >ok 
at  each  end,  one  to  be  baited  with  a  whole  soft-shell  clam 
by  inserting  the  hook  between  the  shells,  and  the  other 
with  the  clam  taken  out  of  the  shell. 
Xo.  4.  Tracing  sinker  of  lead,  with  a  hole  through  the  centre 
longitudinally.    All  sinkers  should  be  of  lead,  as  one  of  the 
most  ponderous  metals.     At  the  upper  end  of  the  leader- 
which  IS  the  same  material  as  the  line-three  fourths  of  a 
^      yard  above  hook  No.  ] ,  the  leader  should  be  tied  to  a  brass 
swivel,  and,  after  running  the  end  of  the  line  through  the 
sinker,  the  end  of  the  line  should  be  tied  to  the  upper  end  of 
the  swivel,  to  prevent  the  sinker  from  falling  too  near  the 
hook,  and  still  to  permit  the  line  to  play  freely  through  it 
when  It  rests  on  a  mussel-bed  at  the  bottom,  so  that  the 
angler  may  feel  the  slightest  nibble.     This  is  also  a  mark- 
ed point  in  still-baiting  on  the  bottom  for  striped  bass  and 
squeteague. 

No.  5  Sinker  for  hand-line  fishing.    Tie  the  end  of  line  to  the 
sinker  though  the  hole  in  the  end.     About  ten  or  twelve 
inches  above  the  sinker,  tie  to  the  main  line  a  leader  with 
a  hook  like  No.  3  at  each  end.     The  leader  should  be  near- 
ly a  yard  long,  and  if  made  of  hair  it  will  be  lighter  and     " 
play  easier  than  if  of  linen;  and  when  the  sinker  lies  on 
the  bed  of  mussels  where  sheepshead  feed,  it  is  well  to  have 
the  eader  so  liglit  that  the  hooks  will  be  moved  about  by 
the  tide     One  hook  should  be  abput  a  foot  from  the  main 
line,  and  Che  other  two  feet.     When  thus  rigged,  and  you 
have  cast  as  far  as  you  can  astern  of  your  anchored  boat, 
take  up  all  your  slack  line  and  your  heavy  sinker,  which 
will  pemit  you  to  draw  the  line  straight  without  moving 
It,  and  this  will  enable  even  a  member  of  the  hand-line- 
committee  to  feel  the  slightest  bite. 

I  am  thus  particular  in  describing  the  rig  for  hand-line  fish- 
ing because  many  good  anglers  consider  the  electric  dips  and 
dives  of  a  "head"  too  quick  for  a  line  to  render  before  bi^k 


I ' 


Starting  for  a  Day's  Fishing. 


89 


insf  a  rod. 


I  do  not  appreciate  a  repugnance  to  a  rod  because 
a  fish  plays  rapidly  and  with  powerful  demonstratioii.     The 
angler  should  use  a  heavy  rod,  about  nine  feet  in  length,  and, 
like  the  ordinary  bass  rod,  the  two  low-^r  joints  should  be  of 
ash,  and  the  top  of  lancewood,  or  the  whole  rod  should  be  of 
Japan  bamboo.     I  rather  favor  a  bamboo  rod  for  sheepshead 
fishing.-   The  angler  should  use  the  heaviest  make  of  a  steel 
pivot  bass  reel,  large  enough  to  carry  six  hundred  feet  of 
line,  though  there  will  probably  never  be  more  than  half  that 
length  carried  off  the  reel;  but  the  fish  doubles  and  turns  so 
rapidly  that  a  large  drum,  or  much  line  on  a  reel,  is  necessary 
to  wind  the  line  in  quickly  and  prevent  the  fish  from  gettino- 
slack  line,  and  to  give  him  time  to  disgorge  or  break  the 
hook. 

To  the  angler  who  has  never  fished  for  sheepshead  I  would 
say,"  You  have  a  rare  treat  in  store,  so  enjoy  it  the  first  op- 
portunity."   If  a  resident  of  New  York,  you  will  find  Canar- 
sie,  or  the  "  Old  Mill,"  near  East  New  York,  the  most  conve- 
nient places  to  take  sail-boat  from,  and  bait  is  generally  plen- 
ty at  either  place.     Sail  down  the  channel  above  the  inlet 
toward  Near  Rockaway ;  about  a  mile  below  Remsen's  Hotel, 
feel  by  sounding  for  a  mussel-bed:  they  are  numerous  for  a 
mile  along  shore,  about  200  yards  from  it.    When  found,  cast 
anchor  far  enough  away,  so  that  when  the  boat  toles  round 
by  the  tide  toward  the  feeding-ground,  the  cast  required  for 
dropping  your  sinker  on  it  will  be  about  fifty  feet.     The  wa- 
ter should  be  about  seven  feet  deep  at  low  tide,  and  it  rises 
there  from  four  to  six  feet.     The  best  tide  to  fish  is  during 
high  and  low  tides,  when  the  water  is  slack,  Jlnd  until  it  runs 
at  the  rate  of  five  miles  the  hour,  or  one  hour  after  it  begins 
to  run;  for  when  the  tide  runs  at  its  full  strength,  sheeps- 
head seek  some  still-water  ground,  and  wait  for  a  moderate 
motbn  of  the  waters.     During  the  intermission  I  am  in  the 
habit  of  taking  up  anchor  and  trolling  for  bluefish,  or  of 
seeking  some  feeding-ground  up  a  bayou,  or  some  sunken 


vessel,  where  I  angle  for  sea  bas 


s,  s<i«eteague,  striped  bass, 


!)() 


FiHiiiNo  IN  Amkrican  Waters. 


hlackfisli,  and  an  occasional  si  ('c])shoa(l,  until  the  tide  ui^ain 
servos  on  the  nni8sel-l)eds,  which  generally  border  the  laain 
channel. 

At  the  rii?ht  times  of  tide,  the  locatioiiH  of  the  mnssel-beds 
are  plainly  indicated  by  a  fle(>t  of  from  twenty  to  fifty  small 
sail-boats  of  hand-line  fishermen.  Many  of  them  are  fanners 
who  reside  near  the  whore  of  Jamaica  Hay,  and  employ  th(! 
interregnum  between  Jiay  and  grass  to  unite  j)leasure  and 
profit  by  eaining  from  three  to  ten  dollars  a  day  at  fishing 
for  sheepsluad.  There  is  always  ready  sale  for  the  fish  at  a 
price  nearly  etpial  to  that  obtained  for  salmon. 

Having  grouped  tlu^  implements— except  the  necessary  one 
of  a  largo  landing-net,  of  heavy  brass  rim  and  large  meshes 
of  strong  twine— suppose  we  drive  down  seven  miles  to  C^i- 
narsie,  and  go  out  from  there  to  try  the  "  head"  for  one  turn 
of  tide  ? 

Crossing  the  ferry  from  New  York,  our  drive  from  Brook- 
lyn lies  through  a  labyrinth  of  flower  and  vegetable  gardens, 
forming  a  landscape  dotted  here  and  there  with  eh((te(m;i' 
whoso  surroundings  prove  the  menage  to  have  been  designed 
with  a  view  to  uniting  comfort  Avith  elegance.  Those  old 
oaks,  cherry-trees,  and  black  walnuts,  together  Avith  the  ser- 
pentine windings  of  a  cou])le  of  trout  brooks,  are  the  only 
marks  left  of  that  antiquity  which  antedates  our  Revolution- 
ary War  for  Independence ;  but  the  gardens,  lawns,  fruit- 
trees,  and  margins  of  flowers,  forming  the  landscajjc  into  a 
picture  of  beauty,  and  loading  the  air  with  perfume,  demand 

that  the  senses  of  smell  and  sight  shall  do  their  duty. 
*  *  •  *  *  *  ^  ^ 

Yes,  judge,  we  are  already  at  Canarsie,  and  I  do  not  won- 
der at  your  surprise  that  in  less  than  one  hour  we  should 
have  left  urban  blocks  of  brick  and  marble,  and  been  wafted, 
as  it  were,  through  seven  miles  of  flower'^,  to  be  set  down  on 
the  margin  of  the  sea,  with  all  its  aquatic  views  breaking 
upon  us  like  a  startling  pun  or  paradox.  Be  pleased  to  step 
upon  the  piazza  of  the  hotel  and  take  a  look  seaward,  while 


Quaint  Salts  at  Canarsie. 


91 


<mr  host  orders  Captain  Abraius  to  bring  Iuh  yaclit  aloni?  the 
dock.  It  was  amusing,  wli  n  I  first  inaugurated  rod-fishiug 
for  shot'pshead,  to  perceive  i  iie  members  of  the  hand-line-com- 
mittee cast  furtive  ghin-  !  at  me  as  tliey  winked  knowinj^ly 
to  one  another,  as  much  ..  to  nay,  All's  fish  as  comes  to  our 
net ,  and  a  greenlioni  is  as  good  as  any,  if  he  pays."  The  clan; 
rakers  and  crnb  atchers,  whose  small  sail  aiiJ  row  boats  dot 
the  shores  an(,  hoals  of  Jamaica  ]>ay  as  they  saunter  about 
baretboted  and  clad  in  a  red  shirt  and  rolled-up  trowsers,  also 
believed  that  anglers  for  8hee})shead  w  ith  rod  and  reel  were 
monomaniai  s ;  and  though  they  freely  took  my  money  for 
bait,  they  frankly  advised  ne  to  use  a  hand-line  for  "head." 
This  Avant  of  faith,  however,  lasted  no  longer  than  did  the 
gibes  and  siu-ers  of  the  shad-fishermen  at  IL  '  ke  when  Seth 
(Treen  stated  that  he  could  hatch  a  milh  'U  ot  Miad  a  day,nnd 
within  a  week  he  hatched  si.v  times  that  inmiber  daily.  So 
the  members  of  the  hand-line-con  Jttee  and  bait-catchers 
soon  became  not  only  civil,  but  vied  with  eacli  other  in  sec- 
onding my  wishes  by  taking  pains  to  procure  me  peculiar 
baits,  et . .,  concluding  finally  that  angling  with  a  rod  and  reel 
may  be  as  respectable  iis  fishhig  with  a  hand-line. 

SECTION  FOURTH. 

ANGLING   F(    .    SIIEEPSIIEAD. 

The  saline  nir  is  invigorating,  and  a  slight  haze  protects  us 
from  an  unwelcome  glare  of  the  sun.  The  gulls  scream  as 
they  dip  and  sweep  over  shoals  of  young  herring  and  men- 
haden. Members  of  *he  hand-line-committee  are  out  in  full 
force,  and  sixty  clinker-built  and  copper-fastened  tiny  sail- 
boats. With  poles  lowered  and  sails  wrapped  round  them,  are 
anchored  along  the  banks  of  mussel-beds,  intent  on  baiting 
with  clams,  and  casting  their  heavy  sinkers — catchung  !  ca- 
lung !  Our  captain  rounds  our  craft  to  as  if  he  intended  to 
swamp  half  a  dozen  tiny  craft ;  but  all  is  serene  and  the  an- 
chor cast,  when  the  captain  falls  to  opening  shedder  crab  and 
soft-shell  clams,  and  throwing  the  shells  overboard  at  the  bow 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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2.2 


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PnotogBphic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  87^-4503 


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92 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


of  the  boat,  so  that  the  tide  will  carry  them  astern  and  at- 
tract the  fish. 

With  the  sail  lowered  over  the  centre  of  the  stern  and 
lashed,  the  judge  takes  his  stand  on  one  side  of  it  and  my- 
self on  the  other,  when  each  with  a  single-rigged  hook,  as  be- 
fore stated,  and  well  baited  with  shedder  crab,  make  our  first 
cast. 

"  Judge,  permit  me  to  advise  that  when  your  sinker  toucli- 
es  the  water  you  do  n(jt  slack  your  line  or  permit  any  to  run 
from  the  reel,  but  let  it  sink  naturally,  and  the  tide  will  keep 
your  line  straight,  so  that  you  will  be  able  to  distinguish  the 
faintest  nibble  after  it  settles  on  the  bottom.     If  you  do  not 
get  a  bite  in  a  minute,  jerk— as  if  you  intend  to  hook  a  fish— 
and  reel  in  a  yard  or  two  of  the  slack  caused  by  tiie  jerk,  and 
then  let  the  sinker  settle  as  at  first.     Keep  striking  and  reel- 
ing a  few  feet  every  minute  until  you  have  effectually  fished 
over  all  the  ground  from  where  you  cast  to  the  boat.     Then 
reel  all  the  way  up  and  repair  damage  to  bait,  and  cast  again. 
I  have  cast  and  reeled  in  for  hours,  sometimes  without  get- 
ting a  single  bite  from  a  '  head,'  and  in  such  cases  my  friends 
resorted  to  segars  and  other  expedients  to  prevent  them  from 
becoming  discouraged;  and  if  they  saw  the  hand-line  men 
catch  a  few  and  string  them  to  a  cord  fastened  to  the  thole- 
pins, leaving  the  fish  in  the  water  to  keep  them  alive,  they 
would  forthwith  order  our  captain  to  bargain  for  a  few  at  a 
dollar  each.     But,  before  we  or  they  discontinued  fishing,  we 
would  take  the  greatest  number  of  any  craft  in  the  bayfand 
frequently  more  than  we  knew  how  to'  dispose  of.     But  the 
tide  slackens,  and  '  head'  will  begin  to  bite  Very  soon.*    Keep 
your  line  clear  on  the  reel,  and  straight  from  the  tip  of  your 
rod  to  the  sinker."  "There!  I've  hooked  one !"  "His  shoot- 
ing up  to  the  top  of  the  water  is  no  sign  of  weakness,  for  you 
perceive  that  I  can  not  prevent  him  from  diving  to  the  bot- 
tom quicker  than  he  came  up.     Captain,  man  \he  landing- 
net,  and  be  ready  and  careful,  for  he  is  a  fifteen-pounder ! 
There,  he  is  offag.iin;  you  perceive  that  I  can  turn  him  and 


Contest  with  a  SheepsiiexVd. 


93 


bring  him  to  the  surface,  but  as  soon  as  he  smells  the  upper 
air  he  turns  quicker  than  thought,  and,  unless  I  yield  him  line, 
he  will  either  part  it  or  break  my  rod.  The  sheepshead  is 
what  Lord  Dundreary  said  of  a  certain  bird, '  werry  wobust.' 
You  are  right,  judge,  he  is  beautiful ;  but  do  not  count  him 
until  he  is  in  the  landing-net.  There !  stand  out  of  the  way 
of  his  dorsal  and  pectoral  spikes ;  I  always  wear  boots  when 
angling  for  sheepshead  or  trolling  for  bluefish." 

"  Ho  !  judge,  you  have  hooked  a  good  one.     Good !    Play 
him  gently  ,.nd  gingerly." 

"  He'll  not  let  me  !    I  expect  to  lose  him.     There,  that's  the 
third  time  I  have  brought  him  to  the  suvface,  only  to  see  him 
take  more  line  and  get  farther  from  the  boat  at  every  turn. 
By  the  powers,  there  !    Captain,  how  much  will  he  weigh  ?" 
"I  guess  summut  near  on  to  ten  pound." 
"  What !    You  don't  mean  to  say  he'll  not  scale  more  than 
ten  pounds  ?" 
"  Yes,  811* ;  maybe  et's  summut  bigger." 
I  check  the  interesting     )lloquy  b^  stating  that  I  think  our 
fishes  are  about  the  same  size,  but  that  the  one  I  have  just 
iiooked  is  larger  than  either.     The  judge  then  sees  that  it  is 
best  to  employ  all  his  time  at  fishing  while  the  biting  con- 
tinues.    As  I  land  the  second  one,  I  remark : 

"Judge,  you  perceive  there  is  no  mistaking  the  bite  of  a 
sheepshead ;  his  bite  informs  you  that  he  is  in  earnest." 

"  Piecisely  so.    His  bite  is  like  that  of  no  other  fisb.     It  . 
is  as  spasmodic  as  a  bluefish  and  as  powerful  as  an  alligator, 
and  he  gives,  also,  an  indescribable  premonition,  info-  ming 
you  that  a  poAverful  fish  is  examining  your  bait.     There ! 
he's  gone !" 

"  Well,  judge,  please  examine  your  hook.  The  point  is  bro- 
ken off.  The  only  safe  place  to  hook  a  '  head'  is  in  the  lip, 
or  at  the  angle  covering  the  mandibles.  I  took  thirteen  here 
one  day,  and  played  a  greater  number  which  I  lost.  Our 
fishing-tackle  kings  should  inspire  greater  confidence  and 
better  temper  by  giving  us  finer  tempered  hooks." 


94 


Fi8iim'>  IN  American  Waters. 


The  captain  counts  eleven  as  our  take.     Moderate,  but 
enough.    Suppose  Ave  reel  up  ?    Captain,  head  the  craft  home- 
ward.    Let's  unjoint  our  rods,  put  them  in  their  cases,  and 
enjoy  the  sail.     To  our  left  is.  the  lower  bay  of  New  York, 
the  fortifications  and  shore  of  New  Jersey.     To  our  right  is 
Rockaway,  and  the  great  South  Bay.     Those  birds  in  the 
weeds  are  yellow-leg  snipe,  and  those  on  the  sand-bars  are 
summer  snipe,  of  numerous  varieties.     The  gulls  seem  to  be 
at  war,  for  they  sally  from  the  islets  and  descend  on  spearing 
and  shoals  of  small  fry  as  if  they  were  storming  a  fortification. 
Our  horse  is  ready,  and  our  fish  are  stowed  under  the  car- 
riage seat.     We  will  try  to  drive  home  before  sundown. 

There  are  many  places  along  our  shores  better  than  Jamai- 
ca Bay,  where  we  fished  to-day,  for  sheepshead.  The  hand- 
line-coramittee  make  it  pay  at  Fire  Island,  and  there  are 
many  superior  feeding-places  in  the  South  Bay.  About  the 
wreck  of  ihe  Black  Warrior,  near  the  Narrows,  is  celebrated 
for  great  numbers  of  them.  In  truth,  our  whole  coast  south 
of  Long  Island  is  rendered  inviting  by  this  delicious  fish. 

Late  in  autumn  the  sheepshead  are  numerous  along  the 
shores  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  but  they  are  not  so 
good  any  where  else  as  within  the  latitude  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  The  sheepshead  of  our  northern  chain  of  lakes 
IS  an  inferior  fish,  and  should  not  be  confounded  with  oui- 
coast  and  estuary  delicacy. 

Along  the  shores  of  New  Jersey  sheepshead  arc  numerous 
from  May  until  October : 

Where  inle';  of  the  Barnegat 

Opes  to  the  boiling  surf  its  gate, 
When  the  young  flood-tide  washes  iu 

Limpet  and  ':rab,  a  luring  bait, 
Then,  where  the  affluent  current  pours 
The  deepest  o'er  its  mussel  floors, 
Tlie  greedy  sheepshead  hidden  lie 
To  seize  whatever  may  float  by. 
And  there,  in  dancing  boat  tliat  swings 

At  anchor  hi  the  floating  tides, 
The  angler  line  and  plummet  flings, 

And  takes  tlie  robber  where  lie  hides. 


A    GAMY   AND   DELICIOUS   FlSII. 


95 


SECTION  FIFTH. 

THE   KINGFISH. 

By  many  anglers  this  fish  js  regarded  as  the  best  water- 
game  of  the  estuaries.  It  is  justly  entitled  to  be  considered 
one  of  tlif  best  food  and  anglers'  fishes  of  the  waves  which 
wash  the  shores  from  Sandy  Hook  to  New  York  City.  Its 
small  and  hard  mouth  is  bordered  with  a  gristly  rim,  j^eculi- 
arly  adapted  to  holding  a  small  hook.  In  the  waters  about 
the  city  this  fish  is  not  numerous,  nor  are  the  members  of  the 
limited  shoals  of  large  size,  running  only  from  a  half  to  two 
pounds  each  off  Communipaw,  Kill  Von  Kull,  and  Newark 
Bay;  but  at  the  south  end  of  Staten  Island, in  Amboy  Bay, 
and  where  it  merges  into  the  lower  Bay  of  New  York,  near 
Freeport,  and  in  Jamaica  Bay,  near  Barren  Island,  they  some- 
times run  as  heavy  as  five  pouvds.  All  along  the  South  Bay 
and  the  New  Jersey  shore  aiid  inlets  this  delectable  fish  is 
tak€n  in  greater  or  less  numbers  in  fykes,  seines,  pounds,  and 
W+.h  the  hand-line,  while  they  yield  tithe  to  sportsmen  witli 
rod  and  reel. 


The  Kingfi«h. —^cetcnre  iVe/>«fosa.— Mitcliill. 

The  meat  of  the  kingfish  laminates  in  flakes  of  very  close 
texture.  It  is  a  very  heavy  fish  for  its  size.  Though  emi- 
nently a  breakfast  fish,  yet  f-v  a  chowder  the  epicure  prefers 
it  to  sea  bass  or  cod,  the  acknowledged  chowder  fishes.    The 


96 

color 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


of  the  fish  is  gray,  with  irregular  marks  nearly  black. 
It  is  covered  with  fine,  rigid  scales,  which  extend  over  the 
.  head.     The  first  dorsal  is  spinous,  and  all  the  other  fins  are 
soft-rayed.     The  fish  possessesj  great  propulsive  power,  as  in- 
dicated by  its  fins,  so  that  a  three-pounder  at  the  remote  end 
of  a  line,  with  delicate  bass  rod,  generally  induces  the  novice 
to  believe  the  strength,  speed,  and  endurance  of  the  fish  un- 
der-estimated.    «  Gently,  but  firmly,"  are  the  words  in  play- 
ing a  kingfish,  which  some  denominate  "barb,"  because  a 
.short  adipose  barb  shoots  out  beneath  its  lower  jaw;  but  it 
bears  no  resemblance  to  the  barbel  family.     It  spawns  in 
.spring-time,  as  most  white-meated  fishes  do;  and,  though 
rather  solitary  iu  its  habits,  it  remains  in  our  estuaries  and 
small  bays  along  the  coast  from  May  until  November.    Au- 
gust and  September  are  the  best  months  to  angle  for  it;  and 
as  the  tackle  required  should  be  adapted  to  its  size  of  mouth 
and  great  propulsive  power,  the  following  cut  may  assist  the 
angler  who  would  enjoy  the  spore  of  taking  the  fish,  which— 
for  his  inches— is  eminently  the  king  of  game  fishes. 

The  rod  is  the  common  three-jointed  bass-rod,  from  eight 
to  ten  feet  in  length.  Pivot,  multiplying  reel  of  German  sil- 
ver or  brass,  large  enough  to  carry  from  four  to  six  hundred 
feet  of  fine  linen  line. 

The  play  of  a  kingfish  is  peculiar,  though  like  the  striped 
bass  he  takes  the  bait  without  hesitation  and  starts  away, 
and  when  he  feels  the  prick  of  the  hook,  accelerates  In     peed,' 
swimming  low,  and  making  a  very  long  and  strong  run.     If 
you  have  never  taken  one  you  will  be  puzzled  with  his  invet- 
erate persistence  in  keeping  down  and  running  deep,  and 
your  surprise  will  not  be  diminished  when  he  finally  breaks 
water  a  hundred  yards  from  the  boat ;  and  you  will  wonder, 
after  landing  a  fish  which  has  taken  you  nearly  half  an  hour 
to  kill,  that  it  weighs  scarcely  three  pounds.     The  vital  spark 
of  the  kingfish  is  very  brilliant,  and  he  is  very  tenacious  of  it ; 
but,  once  landed,  he  exhibits  a  vanquished  look,  and  his  or- 
ange-colored eyes  and  scaly  head  turn  downward,  as  if  both 


IIang-dog  Look  when  Vanquished. 


97 


— ^^I^C»^'©-==-^ 


KiNGFISH  TaCKI*. 

to  .crew  Ipt'o  a^KW"' KiZ'^SiS?""  ?  VVS^S  »'  '""i 
worm  gut.  leaaer .  both  leader  and  enell  (or  snood)  are  double  silk- 

fatigued  and  ashamed;  not  like  the  striped  bass  and  sheeps- 
head,  who  look  happy,  and  seem  to  say,  "Mr.  Angler,  I  guess 
you  had  your  metal  tried  in  playing  me;"  or  like  a  traveler 
just  arrived  from  Europe,  assuming  an  air  of  importance,  as 
If  condescending  to  visit  America  just  to  see  for  himself  what 
the  lankees  are  like.  But,  though  the  kingfish  looks  like  a 
deck-passenger  after  a  long  voyage,  the  angler  is  sure  of  one 
point  m  his  favor,  and  the  cook,  as  well  as  the  epicure,  will 
be  fully  assured  of  another. 

The  kingfish  shoals  on  a  clean  sandy  bottom,  feeds  on  Crus- 
tacea, and  prefers  shrimp,  shedder,  and  sofl-shell  crabs  and 
lobsters.  Anchor  off  Barren  Island  to  the  north  of  the  edge  of 
the  channel,  and  expect  sport.  Anchor  east  of  Obesnequack 
i^reek,  on  the  border  of  the  channel  between  there  and  Free- 
port,  and  in  August  and  September  you  can  not  fail  of  ob- 

G 


98 


Fishing  in  American  AVateks. 


taming  rapturous  sport.  Take  your  bait  with  you  from  a 
New  York  market,  for  fear  of  delay.  Caving  Channel  a 
sandy  bottom  tideway  from  Communipaw  to  Jersey  City'  is 
said  to  be  a  favorite  run  for  small  kingfish,  where  good  sport 
18  often  realized  on  the  lirst  of  the  flood.  Kingfish  feed  also 
at  numerous  places  in  the  South  Bay,  and  all  along  the  coast 
of  New  Jersey. 

To  anglers  who  dwell  near  the  coast, 

The  kingfish  is  a  peculiar  joy ; 
And  among  all  the  scaly  host, 

This  they  choose  as  theif  favorite  toy.  . 

SECTION  SIXTH. 

« 

,  THE    HOGFISH. 

This  fish  is  very  numerous  on  the  Bahama  banks  and  alon«- 
the  coast  of  the  Southern  States,  visiting  in  the  spring,  which 
is  its  spawning  season,  as  far  north  as  the  mouth  of  the  Ches- 
apeake Bay.  It  is  white-meated  and  very  juicy,  requiring  no 
butter  or  lard  in  cooking,  and  its  peculiar  flavor  is  very  rich 
and  creamy,  being  the  best  table-fish  among  anglers'  fishes  of 
the  South.  It  ranges  in  weight  from  five  to  fifteen  pounds. 
Its  scales  are  rather  large,  except  on  the  head,  where  they  arc 


The  Hcgfish. 

very  small.  The  first  dorsal  is  spinous-rayed,  and  all  the 
rays  of  the  other  fins  are  soft.  It  is  marked  similar  to  the 
perch,  with  rays  or  bars  of  a  darker  shade  than  the  rest  of  the 
fish,  which  is  a  reddish-brown.  This  fish  is  angled  for  by 
still-baiting  with  shedder  or  soft-shell  crab,  and  with  shank- 


\1 


Delicacies  without  Olive  Oil. 


99 


headed  hooks,  like  those  for  taking  large  bass.  As  its  scales 
are  very  tenacious,  some  cooks  recommend  skinning  it  as  the 
New  Englanders  do  tautog  and  yellow  perch.  It  is  an  excel- 
lent fish  when  stuffed  and  baked,  but  it  is  rather  adipose  for 
boilhior. 

Apropos  of  scaling  fish :  First,  lave  them  in  vinegar,  and 
the  most  tenacious  scales  will  be  easily  removed. 

THE   GRUNTEB. 

This  is  a  silver-sided  fisb  with  gray  back  and  white  belly. 
The  fish  is  very  plump,  round,  and  fat,  without  any  foreign 
taste.     It  usually  weighs  from  two  to  five  pounds,  and  is 
juicy  enough  to  fry  without  butter.     It  is  one  of  the  best 
breakfast  fishes  of  the  shores  and  estuaries,  and  usually  shoals 
with  the  squeteague,  and  utters  several  grunts  after  being 
landed.     It  is  angled  for  the  same  as  the  squeteague.     Its 
fins  are  all  soft-rayed,  and  it  is  leather-mouthed;  medium 
sized  scales  cover  the  body.     In  speaking  of  a  frying  fish,  I 
believe  in  the  epicurean  theory  of  never  frying  a  fish  which 
weighs  over  half  a  pound ;  and  that  boiling,  broiling,  baking, 
and  chowdering  are  the  only  true  ways  to  cook  fish,  except 
the  primitive  ones  of  rolling  them  in  buttered  paper  and  roast- 
ing them  in  hot  embers,  or  threading  them  on  a  birch  toast- 
ing-fork, with  a  slice  of  pork,  and  roasting  them  before  a 
camp-fire.     The  grunter  is  a  great  delicacy,  and  very  good 
game  for  the  sportsman  with  rod  and  reel. 


> 


The  Guunt£<{. 


mm 


100 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


hi      ( 


THE    GOLDEN   MULLET. 

This  is  eminently  a  fish  of  the  coast  and  inlets  of  the  Caro- 
linas,  though  in  summer  it  is  taken  in  considerable  numbers 
as  far  north  as  the  coast  and  estuaries  of  New  Jersey.    Its 
mouth  is  very  small  and  toothless,  so  that  a  person  might  be 
led  to  suppose  that  it  lived  on  animalcula  did  it  not  bite  so 
ravenously.     In  size,  the  golden  mullet  range  from  half  a 
pound  to  a  pound,  and  they  are  so  fat  tho  .  cooks  say  "  they 
fry  themselves."    I  know  of  no  fish  possessing  in  an  equal  de- 
gree the  rich,  sweet  juiciness  of  the  golden  mullet.     It  is  al- 
ways distinguishable  by  from  two  to  four  jet  spots  above 
the  tail.     The  color  of  the  back  is  brown,  sides  golden,  belly 
white,  meat  a  cream  color.     Its  scales  are  small  and  soft,  fins 
soft-rayed.     The  body  is  masculated  in  dark  sliades  like  the 
squeteague,  and  the  tail  is  straight  across  the  end. 


Trk  Golden  Mullet. 


The  golden  mullet  affords  exciting  sport  to  the  young  an- 
gler with  very  light  bass  and  perch  tackle.     The  rod  should  » 
either  be  four-jointed  and  ten  feet  long,  or  a  plain  bamboo 
pole,  mounted  with  guides  and  reel-rilgs.     The  reel  may  be 
small,  but  large  enough  to  carry  a  hundred  yards  of  fine  linen 
Ime,  because  the  angler  sometimes  hooks  squeteague,  grunt- 
ers,  striped  bass,  and  kingfish  while  angling  for  the  smaller 
delicacy.     The  golden  mullet  affects  shrimp  bait,  but  will 
sometimes  take  mussels  and  soft  clams.     The  hook  must  be 
small-single  leaders  are  preferred-and  a  swivel  and  float 
afford  the  prettiest  sport,  with  two  hooks,  as  rigged  for  small 
striped  bass.    The  golden  mullet  seldom  ventures  far  above 
the  estuaries  of  rivers,  and  it  should  not  be  disgraced  by  con- 


I 


Sport  kok  Ladies  and  Ciuldeen. 


101 


founding  it  with  the  numerous  family  of  mullets  of  the  Muyil 
genua. 

THE    WHITE    PEKCH. 

This  fish  is  found  at  the  meeting  of  salt  and  fresh  waters  all 
along  the  coast  from  Cape  Cod  to  the  Carolinas,  and,  though 
siinilar  in  essential  marks,  it  differs  in  shade  and  symmetry 
either  according  to  its  food  or  the  waters  it  inhabits.     It  is  a 
little  fish  at  best,  ranging  all  the  way  from  three  ounces  to 
three  pounds.     Of  course  you  throw  the  small  ones  back  if 
you  do  not  hook  them  in  the  gills.     The  back  is  neutral-tint- 
ed, sides  a  silvery,  lustre,  and  belly  Avhite.     The  first  dorsal  is 
spinous,  and  the  others  soft-rayed,  except  the  first  anal.     The 
head  is  small,  and,  with  its  silver-plated  gill-covers,  small 
mouth,  and  little  teeth,  looks  pretty,  bites  freely,  and  resists 
the  angler  merrily.     This  fish  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  the 
sport  of  juveniles.     It  is  a  pan-fish,  white-meated,  flat,  easily 
scaled,  and  quite  a  delicacy  in  November,  for  it  is  one  of  our 
latest  biting  fishes.     Angle  for  it  with  light  bass-tackle,  and 
it  is  generally  to  be  found  near  where  a  creek  of  fresh  water 
empties  into  salt  water,  or  in  brackish  waters  over  springs 
which  bubble  up  from  the  bottom  of  a  pond  or  river.     A 
white  perch  which  weighs  but  a  pound  affords  sport  with 
light  tackle,  and,  when  weighing  three  pounds,  it  plays  very 
vigorously. 


The  White  Perch. 


I 


tl 


I'.'    1 


!  t 


102 


FisiiiNo  IN  Amekican  Waters. 


THE    SMELT. 

This  i,s  a  small  delicate  fish,  supposed  by  some  to  belon.. 
to  the  sa  mon  tr,be,  though  it  is  not  nearly  so  mueh  like"^ 
as  .a  sinner  like  a  shad.  It  is  almost  tranLcent,  and  from 
five  to  eight  inches  in  length;  its  meat  is  soft,  ;hite  and 
sweet,  with  no  bones  but  the  spine  and  ribs,  which  a^so 
smal   and  tender  that  they  are  eaten  with  the' preciourmoi 

^od  i    buuir    "      1  Y  "  ^'^^  '^^  ''•  ^-^"^^  -  «-r  - 
ble,  but  the  skin,  traced  in  small  diamond  lines,  is  like  the 
canvas  skin  of  tlie  trout  of  Long  Lake.     It  is  ash-col  red  o. 

^r  tr::t':;?r  '^  ''t  "^'  '^'"^-  ^'-^  ^^  ^  ^-"" 

bait.     As  affording  sport,  the  smelt  is  no  mean  game     Late 


The  Smelt.— Osmerus  Eptrlanus.—YimMW 


m  the  autumn  when  ice  begins  -to  border  the  streams  the 
angler  rigs  a  long  perch-rod  with  a  small  multiplying  re«l 
and  a  fine  line  rigged  with  half  a  dozen  small  trout  or  min-' 
now  hooks  on  short  snells  fastened  to  the  main  line,  six  inch- 
es apart,  and  baited  with  pieces  of  shrimp  or  bits  of  clam 
and  resorts  in  boat  up  small  tidal  streams,  anchors  and  anc^les 
or  them  during  the  flood  tide,  when  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
take  from  a  fourth  to  half  a  dozen  of  these  pearly  beauties  at 
a  time,  as  fast  as  he  can  bait  his  hooks  and  cast  them  near 
he  boat.    There  is  nothing  prettier  than  these  gems  danglin.. 
and  shining  at  the  end  of  the  line,  when  they  emit  the  odor 
of  fresh  cucumbers.     On  the  approach  of  winter,  anglers  of 
all  ages  are  seen  on  the  bridges  and  along  the  saline  streams 
of  the  coast,  from  Delaware  Bay  to  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Maine;  and  as  an  article  of  commerce,  thousands  are  sold  in 


A  Bait  fob  Striped  Bass. 


103 


the  New  York  markets,  the  average  retail  price  being  twenty 
cents  a  pound.  The  smelt  is  eminently  the  winter  sport  for 
the  angler,  succeeding  the  white  perch  in  small  tidal  creeks. 
This  fish  will  alsd  take  the  fly  when  sunk  to  their  feeding 
level  near  the  bottom. 

When  twinkling  icicles  depend 

From  woods  that  with  the  bright  freight  bend, 

When  siilty  stream  anu  open  sound 

With  adamantine  ice  are  bound, 

Then  o'er  the  solid  frozen  stream 

The  tents  of  the  smelt-fishers  gleam ; 

Each  opes  with  axe  the  crystal  floor, 

Then  patient  watches  at  the  door. 

TUB    SPEARING,   OR   SILVERSIDES. 

•This  is  the  same  order  of  abdominales  ,as  the  smeiu  and 
caplin,  shoals  with  them,  and  is  eminently  a  bait  for  the  sal- 
mon and  striped  bass.  I,ate  in  October,  in  a  tideway,  bait 
with  this  fish  for  striped  bass.  On  Pelham  Bridge,  anglers 
are  seen  letting  the  line  carry  out  with  the  strong  tide  this 
shiny  bait,  or  casting  with  float,  light  swivel  sinker,  and  this 
bait,  which— where  the  most  rapid  current  slackens  toward 
:in  eddy— attracts  the  leap  of  a  striped,  satin-sided  beauty, 
forcing  the  blood  to  the  ends  of  the  digits  of  the  angler.  The 
upper  part  of  the  head  i§  rather  flat,  and  the  tiny  gill  rays 
ar&  six  in  number,  and  the  side-belt  shines  like  silver. 

"  ^olor.— Pale  olive-green  above  the  lateral  line ;  opercles 
and  sides  silvery ;  obscure  traces  just  below  the  lateral  line 


! 


104 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Wa.^eks 


II 


The  Spearing,  or  Sihy eusidks.— Genus Atherim. 


of  a  broad  satin-like  band,  extending  the  whole  length  of  the 
body;  the  place  of  the  ribs  indicates  lustrous  stripes,  which 
disappear  shortly  after  death;  upper  part  of  the  opercles 
near  the  nape,  dark  green ;  caudal  dark  at  the  base,  and  with 
an  obscure  marginal  band;  dorsal  caudal  fius  light  green- 
p-ctorals,  ventrals,  and  anal  light  colored,  tinged  faintly  with 
bluish;  iridos  silvery;  bones  of  the  head  sub-diaphanous." 

The  foregoing  quotation  is  from  De  Kay's  description  of 
the  smelc ;  but  he  inadvertently  described  a  spearing.     I  am 
not  surprised  at  that,  for  they  shoal  together,  and  even  Dr 
Clerk^an  angler  and  a  scholar,  did  not  know  the  difference 
until  ^  casually  pointed  it  out  to  him. 

When  in  the  autumn's  latest  time. 

And  first  the  streams  run  icy  cold 
In  Indian  surnmer'a  crimjon  prime, 

When  forest  trees  are  touched  with  gold, 
Then  take  t:  3  silvery  fish  that  gleam 

Along  the  eddies  of  the  stream. 

THE   CAPLIlf. 

This  is  the  tiny,  translucent  fish,  of  from  three  to  six  inches 
m  length,  ^7hich  shoals  in  great  abundance  on  the  shores  of 
Ne«rfoundland  and  Labrador,  and  is  chiefly  used  as  bait  for 
cod     It  will  be  seen  that  this  fish  belongs  to  the  same  order 
as  the  smelt  and  spearing,  the  chief  diflference  consisting  in 
Its  double  anal  fin.     All  codfish  fleets  employ  a  sloop,  two 
i-ow-boats,  and  a  set  of  hands  with  caplin  nets,  to  keep  them 
supplied  with  bait.     It  is  an  interesting  sight  to  witness  a 
city  of  boats  dj-.ributed  over  many  miles  of  water  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  or  about  Newfoundland,  and  the  bait- 
tenders  hauling  seines  over  shoals  and  about  islands  where 
the  tiny  caplm  resort  for  protection  from  the  ood      So  it  -ip 


be 

3h 

!S, 
th 

n 

r. 
e 


Cod  Bait  in  the  Gulf  of  S-t.  Lawrence.       105 

pears,  Great  Nature  has  wisely  ordained  that  big  fishes  shall 
eat  the  little  ones,  and,  to  compensate  for  this  consumption 
hshes  naturally  increase  many  hundred  fold  faster  than  land 
animals,  as  before  observed. 

I  have  presented  these  three  great  baits-the  smelt,  spear- 
mg,  and  caplin-for  thn  angler's  information,  for  I  have  been 
acquainted  with  many  anglers  who  could  not  name  the  dif- 
ferent fishes  when  taken  together  in  great  masses.  Shoals 
o.  these  fishes  are  followed  by  salmon,  codfish,  and  by  the 
larger  fishes  of  prey,  such  as  the  horse  mackerel,  cero,  and 
bonetta,  over  which  hover  flocks  of  gulls,  and  ever  and  anon 
the  latter  swoop  and  shriek  as  they  pick  up  the  debris  float- 
ing on  the  surface  left  by  the  monsters  as  thev  follow  and 
teed  on  the  shoals  of  these  tender  delicacies. 


The  CAPLin.—AIallotus  villosus. 
All  the  estuaries  of  rivers  and  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
teem  with  the  caplin,  and  sometimes  with  the  smelt  also,  and 
occasionally  with  all  these  three  shoaling  together.  They 
form  the  staple  food  of  the  silver  trout  of  the  estuaries.  All 
these  fishes  spawn  in  the  spring,  and,  therefore,  I  am  sur- 
prised that  they  should  be  suppoijed  to  belong  to  any  branch 
of  the  Salmo  genus. 

SECTION  SEVENTH. 

THE   SEA   BASS. 
Where  low  the  level  Jersey  shore 
Spreads  out  its  ribb'd  and  sandy  floor, 
At  break  of  day  the  fishers  launch 
The  little  skiff,  so  swift  and  stanch, 
Spread  the  white  sail,  forsake  the  strand, 
To  dure  the  ocean  miles  from  land. 
Full  well  by  shorem^vks  they  may  know 
Where  reefs  of  weeds  lue  hidden  low ; 
G2 


TER8. 


il 


106  Fishing  in  Ameeican  Wa 

There,  anchor'd  at  the  dawn  of  dnv, 
They  rob  the  marine  banks  of  prey,' 

The  sea  bass  is  not  strictly  a  vegetarian,  though  it  visits 
vegetable  banks  to  spawn  and  feast  upon  the  numerous  small 
Crustacea  which  hide  amongst  sea-weed.     It  occupies  a  re- 
spectable place  in  the  culinary  calendar,  and  is  preferred  to 
cod  for  a  chowder.     It  is  eminently  a  coast  fish,  and  seldom 
ventures  far  above  the  estuaries,  bays,  and  back-waters,  or 
bayous     The  sea  bass,  porgee,  and  tautog  banks  along  the 
coast  of  New  Jersey  form  one  of  the  attractions  of  Lono- 
Branch,  and  they  are  a  real  blessing  to  the  members  of  the 
hand-lme-committee,  who  realize  in  them  a  cheap  relaxation 
trom  business  and  the  lassitude  caused  by  too  constant  work 
m  a  city  during  the  heat  of  summer. 


The  Sea  Bass, 


Several  excursion  steamers  run  every  alternate  day  to  the 
^  Fishing  Banks,  where  they  make  a  day's  excursion  for  half  a 
dollar,  and  whence  often  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  each 
passenger  returns  with  three  dollars  worth  of  sea  bass.  A 
large  business  is  done  throughout  the  summer  and  autumn 
in  the  capture  and  sale  of  sea  bass. 

The  meat  of  the  sea  bass  laminates  in  compact  ilakes,  not 
so  soft  and  watery  as  .the  cod,  but  more  succulent  and  deli- 
cate in  taste.  This  fish  usually  runs  from  three  to  iwelve 
pounds,  and  is  what  angler's  term  a  bottom-feeding  fish  con- 
sequently not  an  especial  favorite  with  the  discinlen  of  rod 


*?-: 


Its 

lli 

'e- 
to 
m 
)r 
ic 

g 
e 

k 


To  JVJ         A  SIMPLE  Chowder.  107 

and  reel.  Its  feedin^^  grounds  extend  along  the  coast  from 
Delaware  to  Alaine,  wherever  the  sea-weed  grows  from  beds 
of  mussels.  This  fish,  like  many  herbivorous  fishes  of  the 
Urient,  lays  its  eggs,  and  they  are  vivified  on  the  weeds  and 
among  the  shells  of  the  bottom.  This  process  continues  from 
May  until  August,  and  the  shoals  remain  on  the  banks  until 
most  of  their  annual  progeny  leave  the  shell,  when  they  all 
resort  to  deeper  waters  to  winter. 

Jll'r  'Z"T\^-'^  '"^  ^'"'^  ^"^^  seldombreaks  water  until 
eady  for  the  landmg-net.  Unlike  the  tautog,  its  mouth  is 
large  and  leathery,  easy  to  hook,  and  tenaciourto  hold.  It 
color  is  a  bluish,  and  sometimes  a  greenish  black,  lightened  a 
rifle  at  the  lower  parts  of  the  sides  and  belly.  Is  ^1^"  a- 
about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  its  dorsal  fins- 
while  spmous-are  not  very  hardj  the  other  fins  are  soft- 
rayed,  except  the  front  ray  of  the  anal. 

The  sea  bass  is  a  boiler,  but  epicures  regard  it  as  superior 
ma  chowder.  Chowder  clubs  use  no  fish  !ut  sea  bass  Tt. 
tie  Neck  clams  improve  the  chowder,  and,  as  I  was  for  some 
ime  secretary  of  the  Latourette  Chowder  Club,  andsup^i^! 
tended  a  combmation  of  the  gustatory  elemenL,  I  will  here 
describe  a  simple  chowder  for  anglers.  A  comm;n  iron  pot 
of  globular  shape,  is  best  to  make  a  chowder  in.     Slice  as 

sides  of  the  pot,  to  prevent  the  chowder  from  burning.    Then 
cover  the  pork  with  a  layer  of  quartered  onions,  wlfch  have 
been  previously  parboiled  fifteen   minutes;  the^   cover  the 
omons  with  a  layer  offish  cut  in  two-ink-square  pi  ces 
then  cover  the  fish  with  a  layer  of  tomatoes ;  then  a  layei  ot' 
«ea-biscuu ;  then  a  layer  of  clams ;  then  a  la/er  of  onions  and 
con  mue  the  layers  in  the  rotation  described  until  the  pot"  s 
ed.     Season  each  layer  with  salt,  and  a  mixture  of  reS  and 
bl^k  peppers  together  with  such  other  condiments  as  de 

r'uponTf       ''''•"'  '^'  ''  '''''  ^^'  ^«^^  -  ^-"-^  then 
poui  upon  It  from  a  pmt  to  a  quart  of  Chateau  TVTov.;,.  ^r 

good  L<.rdeaux  claret,  and  let  it  simmer  half  an  ho^iti^;;: 


I 


108 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


Chowder  should  remain  over  the  fire  nearly  two  hours.  This 
chowder  has  the  merit  of  being  simple,  and-to  a  hungry 
sportsman-it  is  palatable,  though  not  so  epicurean  as  the 
chowder  made  by  the  late  Daniel  Webster,  the  receipt  for 
which  is  given  on  another  page. 

Chowder -parties  and  clam -bakes  are  American  institu- 
tions, and  they  are  indulged  in  annually  in  July  and  August 
throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  coasts  of  New  York  and 
New  England. 

In  a  commercial  point  of  view,  the  sea  bass  ranks  with  the 
tautog,  and  next  to  the  cod,  being  consumed  annually  to  the 
number  of  millions. 

For  capture  with  rod  and  reel  the  common  striped  bass- 
tackle  is  used.    I  have  taken  hundreds  of  small  ones  in  a  day 
while  angling  for  sheepshead.     They  take  with  equal  voraci- 
ty shrunp,  clam,  and  shedder  crab.     A  shoal  of  a  single  pair 
offish  number  probably  five  thousand  which  attain  to  the 
weight  of  half  a  pound  and  over;  not  more,  because  ground- 
sharks  and  other  marine  carnivora  thin  their  ranks  when  fin- 
gerlings.     Their  feeding-time  is  during  the  lull  of  the  waters 
between  the  turn  of  the  tides,  when  they  yield  themselves 
wilhng  victims  to  the  angler's  captivating  art.     They  weigh 
from  half  a  pound  to  five  pounds,  and  some  shoals  run  from 
eight  to  fifteen  pounds.     As  one  of  our  common  food  fishes, 
it  is  a  shade  more  respectable  than  most  of  those  which  have 
by  quality  and  status  been  consigned  to  tlie  hand-line  multi- 
tude. 


THE    PORGEE. 

This  fish  runs  from  a  quarter  to  three  pounds  in  weight, 
and  unites  with  the  blackfish  (tautog)  and  bergall  (cachogset) 
to  form  the  guerrilla  army  of  thieves  for  robbing  bait  when 
the  angler,  with  hooks  too  large  for  its  mouth,  is  fishing  for 
larger  game.  Its  mouth  is  armed  with  pin-point  teeth  like 
those  of  the  perch,  and  while  it  can  not  bite  in  two  a  single 
gut  snell  or  thin  linen  line,  is  most  dexterous  in  robbing  bass 


A  SLY  Bait  Thief.  io9 

hooks,  or  mauling  and  mutilating  the  bait.    It  is  a  greedy 
little  sniny  sinner,  which  is  both  herbivorous  and  carnivor- 
ous, foraging  on  both  fish  and  vegetable  diets,  and  shoaling 
with  the  omnium  gatherum  of  bottom  fish,  which  make  their 
summer  habitations  among  the  weedy  banks  called  by  their 
name  all  along  the  coast  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  from  three 
to  SIX  miles  from  shore,  purveying  every  where  from  their 
homes,  mto  all  the  estuaries  and  tidal  back-sets,  for  proven- 
der.    The  porgee  is  one  of  the  most  numerous  of  coast  fishes 
and  as  greedy  as  it  is  plenty.    Dr.  Brown,  in  his  Anglers' 
t^uide,  states  that  the  steam-boat  which  runs  daily  to  the 
porgee  banks  in  summer  returns  with  many  thousand  por- 


Thb  VoiidE.^.—Pogrus  Argyrops. 


gees,  besides  the  sea  bass  and  tautog,  averaging  from  six  to 
ten  thousand  as  their  daily  catch  with  the  hand-line.     To  the 
mechanics  and  clerks  of  the  metropolis  these  daily  excursions 
m  midsummer  to  the  fishing-banks  are  great  blessings;  for, 
besides  the  inflation  of  the  lungs  with  bracing  sea-aii   the 
change  of  scene,  and  the  exercise  out  of  doors,  they  bring 
back  more  than  an  adequate  compensation  for  the  pittance 
expended  for  the  <lay's  recreation.     There  can  not  be  too 
many  boats  engaged  in  making  fishing-bank  excursions,  pro- 
vided  the  boats  are  sound  and  well  managed.     In  general, 
the  captains  of  excursion  steamers  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  topography  of  the  banks,  and  know  where  to  order  the 


110 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Watebs. 


heaving  of  the  anchor  for  good  fishing.  The  charge  for  pas- 
sage includes  hand-line  tackle  and  bait,  so  that  a  man  may 
start  in  the  morning  empty-handed,  and  be  landed  at  home 
the  same  evening  with  a  large  mess  offish. 

The  porger  is  a  pan-fish  of  sweet  and  de'licate  flavor  when 
first  caught,  but  its  juices  soon  become  absorbed,  and,  witli 
the  loss  of  its  juiciness,  becomes  nearly  tasteless.  While 
casting  along  tlie' coast  for  striped  bass,  anglers  frequently 
hook  these  nimble  shiners,  and  the  guides  always  draw  them 
at  once  and  place  them  in  moss  between  a  cleft  of  rocks  for 
thm  own  eating,  preferring  them  to  the  striped  bass. 

The  porgee  is  supposed  to  spawn  on  the  weedy  banks  with 
the  sea  bass  and  tautog  early  in  spring,  when  the  last  year's 
hatch  leave  for  estuaries,  purveying  to  the  head  of  tide- 
waters.    In  angling  for  this  fish  perch  tackle  is  used.     The 
rod  18  from  ten  to  eleven  feet  in  length,  multiplying  reel  car- 
rying a  hundred  yards  of  fine  linen  or  silk  line,  cork  float,  and 
swivel  sinker,  single -gut  leader  and  snells,  with  minnow 
books     Takmg  them  is  pretty  sport  for  ladies  and  children 
Use  shrimp  or  clam  bait,  and  let  the  bait  nearly  cover  the 
point  of  the  hook;  and  where  they  are  numerous-as  they  are 
throughout  summer  in  nearly  all  tidal  waters  in  and  above   ' 
the  estuaries-the  angler  will  pair  them  nearly  every  time 
he  baits  his  hooks.     The  fashion  is  becoming  more  and  more 
prevalent  along  the  tidal  waters  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  where 
they  are  shut  in  from  the  heaving  and  throbbing  of  the  sea 
for  whole  families  to  take  a  seat  in  a  row-boat  toward  even- 
ing, and  row  out  to  some  favorite  ground  not  far  from  shore 
but  at  a  suflicient  distance  to  enjoy  different  landscape  views' 
of  both  shores,  and  there  to  anchor  the  boat  and  ano-le  for     ' 
porgees,  with  an  occasional  sea  bass,  squeteague,  and'black- 
hsh.     Eockmg  in  a  boat  over  the  running  tide  is  great  food 
to  vitality,  and  the  evening  scenes  from  the  water,  with  the 
pleasing  exercise  of  angling,  are  blessings  to  be  thankful 
lor. 


Lies  Low  and  Looks  Cunning. 


Ill 


SECTION  EIGHTH. 


■fr 


]    Tji  .    .  Scale  of  Inches.  ' ' 

The  family  of  ,.,,e  trasses,  or  rocMsh,  includes  our  com- 
mon bergalls,  the  New  York  tautog  or  common  blacM  h  aTd 
U.o«e  fancy-colored  species  known  as  "old  wives  of  the  sea" 
Of  the  latter  there  are  several  varieties,  such  as  tl  e  .Xd 
wUe,  the  Une  old  wife,  and  the  yetto,.  old  wife,  whth  Ire  o 
named  m  accordance  with  their  prevailin..  colors     TheTLv 

c'Cfe  -r  t  '*  "^'"'  ^""'"^  are'thriJ^trfkt 
charactenstic.    The  wrasses  were  known  to  the  poet  Opnia,r 

Who^desenhe.  the  beds  of  sea-weed  as  their -favorite  '^C 

"And  there  thick  beds  of  mossy  verdure  grew- 
bea-grass,  and  spreading  wrack  are  seen  :  below 
Oay  rainbow-fish,  and  sable  wrasse  resort. " 

The  foregoing  is  an  extract  from  Willson's  Fifth  Reader 
and  forms  a  part  of  the  "  Glimpse  of  Ichthyology-  Jelii  is 
work  mchides.  ^^  ^^^ 


112 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


TUB   TaUTOG. 

This  fish  (Fig.  3)  is  termed  tautog  along  the  coast  of  New 
England,  and  is  equally  well  known  as  hlackjish  along  the 
shores  of  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey,  south  of  which  it  is 
not  numerous,  nor  is  it  north  of  the  Vineyard  Sound,  though 
it  has  greatly  increased  along  Cape  Cod  within  the  past  fif- 
teen years. 

Wherever  kelp  and  sea-weed  cling 
To  ramparts  form'd  of  rugged  rocks, 
The  tautog  finds  a  dwelling-place, 
Deep  down  in  waters  at  their  base ; 
Or  where  a  passing  boat  hath  met 
Its  fate  along  the  rocky  shore, 
And,  with  its  broken  ribs  and  keel, 
Lies  rotting  on  the  ocean  floor — 
There,  where  the  clinging  shell  and  weed 
Gather,  and  barnacles  abound, 
The  blackfish,  seeking  out  their  feed, 
In  numbers  by  the  hook  are  found. 

The  tautog  is  one  of  the  largest  family  of  fishes  which  in- 
habit the  waters  along  the  coast  from  Vineyard  Sound  to  Del- 
aware Bay.  Urchins  along  shores  begin  fishing  by  taking 
cachogset,  kunners,  and  bergalls — all  of  the  diminutive  car- 
nivora  or  bait-robbers — and  if,  in  their  efforts,  they  succeed  in 
capturing  a  tautog,  the  lucky  urchin  who  thus  succeeds  to 
the  first  step  of  fishing  thereafter  scrapes  money  together  to 
purchase  a  regular  hand-line  and  t  wo  tautog  hooks,  with  a 
heavy  sinker.  He  then  rigs  a  hand-line  en  regie,  and  consid- 
ers himself  a  juvenile  member  of  the  "  hand-line-committee," 
not  to  be  entifled  to  full  membership  until  he  can  earn  by 
fishing  a  miniature  scow  large  enough  to  float  two  young- 
sters of  from  seven  to  ten  years  of  age.  Then,  with  a  stone 
for  anchor,  they  scull  from  clump  to  reef  of  rocks  near  the 
shores  of  our  tidal  estuari.s  and  small  bays,  and  once  in  a 
while  add  to  their  catches  of  blackfish  a  weakfish,  or  even  a 
striped  bass  !  This  achievement  affords  the  barefooted  regi- 
ment a  week's  discussion,  and  forthwith  the  lucky  urchin  be- 


• 


f.T-J 


I 


r 


Members  of  the  IlAND-LmE-coMMiiTEE.  113 

comes  the  arbiter  in  all  piscatorial  (llsi)utos,  as  well  as  the 
oounselor  in  all  arrangements  of  fishing-tackle,  until  some 
other  boy  takes  a  larger  fish. 

Bnt  the  blackfish,  or  tantog,  is  not  to  he  disdained  by  the 
<Iisciple  of  rod  and  reel.     Though  he  is  eminently  a  commer- 
cial fish,  yet  a  tide-runner  of  his  family  which  weighs  from 
eight  to  twelve  pounds  makes  such  dips  and  runs  as  try  both 
the  angler  and  his  tackle.     A  somewhat  celebrated  senator 
of  Rhode  Island  (now  the  Chinese  embassador)  used  annual- 
ly to  spend  several  summer  w(!eks  in  fishing  for  tantog  with 
an  artistically-rigged  hand-line.     lie  sculled  his  boat  lo  the 
edge  of  the  tide,  on  the  bank  between  a  rapid  current  and 
nearly  slack  water,  and  hear  an  islet  or  reef  of  rocks  in  the 
Seconnet  River,  where  the  water  is  about  fifteen  feet  deep  • 
anchored  his  punt  firmly,  standing  up  in  the  stern,  and  cast 
some  seventy-five  feet  of  line,  armed  with  two  hooks  about 
two  feet  above  the  sinker,  and  baited  with  clam.     In  this 
way  I  have  known  him  to  take  one  hundred  pounds  of  tau- 
tog  in  one  hour. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Seconnet  River  there  are  numerous 
pounds,  built  of  stone,  or  staked  out  with  netting,  for  the 
purpose  of  catching  tau  og,  porgee  — or  scapogue,  as  the 
large  ones  are  called— and  numerous  minor  bottom  fry.  Re- 
cently a  salmon  was  caught  in  one  of  these  infamous  traps, 
and,  if  it  is  seriously  contemplated  to  restore  salmon  to  our 
deserted  rivers,  the  first  step  should  be  to  take  up  all  nets 
fastened  to  stakes  in  the  rivers  and  along  the  coast. 

Tautog  are  eaten  while  fresh.  Neither  the  tantog  or  any 
other  fish  of  the  estuaries  whicri  is  angled  for  are  cured  by 
salt  or  refrigeration.  They  are,  as  it  Avere,  hand-to-mouth 
fishes.  Both  the  tautog  and  sea  bass  are  kept  alive  many 
days,  and  sometimes  weeks,  in  fish-cars  anchored  in  water 
suited  to  their  growth.  The  blackfish  is  next  to  the  shad  in 
affording  the  greatest  amount  of  estuary  fish  to  our  markets 
Its  meat  is  watery,  and  the  scales  are  so  firmly  set,  that  somp 
persons  invariably  lave  them  in  vinegar  before  scaling      In 

H 


■ 


114 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


New  England  they  generally  skin  the  tautog,  as  an  easier 
proces^than  scaling,  and  consider  it  a  culinary  delicacy  when 
properly  cooked,  of  which  there  are  three  methods,  i.  e.,  broil- 
ing, frying,  and  stewing.     Before  frying  the  fish,  score  him 
across  each  side  an  inch  apart,  as  you  would  any  breakfast 
pan-fish.     Fry  some  salt  pork  to  a  crisp;  take  out  the  pork, 
and,  while  the  fat  is  so  hot  as  to  be  next  to  blazing,  roll  your 
fish  in  a  mixture  of  rye  and  corn  meal,  and  place  it  in  the 
sparkling  hot  fat,  and  let  it  brown.    Turn  it  twice,  and  dred^re 
it  each  time  with  flour,  so  that  its  crust  will  become  an  eio-lith 
of  an  inch  thick.     After  broiling,  and  while  piping  hot,  baist 
It  with  butter,  salt  it,  and  give  it  a  simple  dash  of  red  pep- 
per, which  stimulates  without  inflanting  the  stomach,  and  the 
slightest  dash  of  black  as  a  bouquet,  though  it  does  inflame 
the  stomach  without  stimulating  or  assisting  digestion. 

The  following  receipt  by  an  editor  oiquelque  'chose  de  goin 
is  worth  rememberinjr : 

"Now,  fair  ruler  of  the  destinies  of  dinner  (for  if  thou  beest 
a  man  I  have  no  sympathies  toward  thee),  smoke-compelling 
Betty,  or  Mary,  or  whatever  else  may  be  the  happy  appella- 
tive in  which  not  only  thon,  but  all  jf  us  rejoice,  thou  hast 
before  thee  one  of  the  most  delicately  absorbent  substances 
in  nature,  imbibing  flavor  from  every  thing  whicli  surrounds 
it,  whether  of  adverse  or  of  propitious  tendency ;  subject,  as 
Warren  Hastings  said  of  the  tenure  of  the  British  possessions 
in  India,  alike  'to  the  touch  of  chance  or  the  breath  of  ophi- 
ion.' 

"Thou  hast  it,  my  choice  Mary!  The  small,  deep  stew- 
pan— with  its  thin  cullender  or  strainer,  on  which  the  fish  is 
to  be  lowered  to  the  bottom,  that  it  may,  when  stewed  into 
soft  delight,  be  gently  raised  again  without  injuring  its  integ- 
rity of  form— glows  with  brightness  in  front  of  thee!  Thy 
vigorous  arm  of  mottled  red,  thy  round  wrist,  and  small,  com- 
pact fingers,  grasp  the  sharp-pointed  knife  with  which  to  sat- 
isfy thyself  that  not  one  scale  remains  around  the  head,  the 
fins,  the  tail. 


•    f 


*.'>a 


To   CATCH   AND   COOK   TaUTOG.  115 

"  Now  tail  and  fins  are  nicely  shortened  in  their  termina- 
tion, not  hacked  off.  A  little  salt  is  thrown  over  the  fish, 
merely  to  hcmleyi  and  not  salt  it,  and  it  lies  two  hours  for  this' 
purpose.  It  is  then  scored,  that  it  may  not  break  when  it 
swells,  and  browned  well  upon  the  gridiron,  from  which  it 
is  carefully  taken  up,  and  laid  to  repose  upon  a  bed  of  nicely- 
peeled  and  very  fresh  mushrooms,  daintily  spread  over  the 
strainer. 

"While  the  fish  was  hardening, Mary  has  had  a  communi- 
cation from  up  stairs.     Ah  extra  bottle  of  the  Chateau  of 
twenty-five  had  been  unavailingly  opened  the  day  before  to 
tempt  a  total  abstinence  friend  who  had  arrived  from  the 
country.     Good  part  oi^it  remains,  and  at  this  moment  it  is* 
decanted  into  the  stew-pan;  the  freighted  strainer  descends 
mto  the  wine,  and  the  fish,  entirely  immersed  in  the  amethys- 
tme  element,  regrets  no  more  its  loss  of  life,  of  liberty,  and 
youth.    A  white  onion  or  two  is  sliced  into  rings,  that  foil  as 
decorations  over  him ;  a  few  berries  of  pepper  thrown  in ;  six 
cloves;  two  blades  of  mace ;  an  eschalot,  if  you  think  proper  • 
and  Cayenne  or  not,  according  to  your  taste.     The  stew-pan 
IS  then  covered,  and  a  careful,  slow,  epicurean  simmer  com- 
pletes the  work." 

During  winter  the  blackfish  hibernates  under  rocks  in  the 
bays  and  estuaries,  as  proven  by  the  vent  entirely  closino- 
and  a  thm  film  growing  over  the  mouth.  In  the  spring  they 
appear  with  the  dogwood  blossom  and  the  chestnut  leaves. 

"  When  chestnut  leaves  are  as  big  as  thumb-nail 
Then  bite  blackfi  h  without  fail ; 
But  when  oliestnut  leaves  are  as  long  as  a  span 
Then  catch  blackfish  if  you  can." 

In  angling  for  the  tautog,  use  a  heavy  bass  rod,  heavy  trac- 
ing smker  like  that  for  sheepshead,  but  hooks  of  the  Virginia 
bend  and  short  ni^.  Swivel  sinkers  are  preferred  by  some 
Let  the  point  of  hook  be  very  sharp.  Sometimes  striped 
bass,  sea  bass,  squeteague,  grunters,  and  sheepshead  feed  with 
the  tautog.     It  IS  necessary,  therefore,  to  rig  with  as  laro-e  a 


116 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


i 


'J 


hook  as  will  answer  for  small  striped  bass  and  squeteague 
and  one  strong  enough  for  tautog,  or  one  rather  larger  than' 
the  common  blackfish  hook.  Let  your  leader  be  part  of  your 
Ime,  say  three  fourths  of  a  yard  long,  and  attached  to  a  brass 
swivel ;  run  the  line  through  the  tracing  sinker,  and  attach 
It  to  the  upper  end  of  the  sw;  vel.  Bait  with  shrimp,  shedder 
crab  or  shedder  lobster,  fiddler,  soft  or  hard  shell  clam,  or  the 
sand-worm  dug  along  the  sandy  shore  at  low  tide. 

The  tautog  bites  like  the  sheepshead,  but  with  less  power 
You  feel  the  premonition,  but  when  he  dashes  aside  the  pull 
IS  weaker  than  that  of  a  sheepshead.    I  mean  now  a  tide-run- 
,ning  tautog  of  from  three  to  eight  pounds,  which  feeds  on  the 
edge  of  swift  water,  has  a  white  nose,  and  is  fair  game     The 
tautog  which  feeds  close  to  the  base  of  the  rocks  is  an  adept 
at  getting  hooks  or  sinkers  fastened  in  the  clefts,  for  so  soon 
as  he  bites  he  darts  under  or  between  the  rocks,  leaving  the 
angler  thankful  if  the  fish  will  liberate  the  hook  or  sinker  as 
the  price  of  his  freedom.    The  bite  of  a  small  blackfish  of 
from  one  fourth  of  a  pound  to  a  pound  is  like  that  of  a  roach 
or  sunfish,  but  large  ones  bite  with  energy,  and  play  so  as  to 
afford  sport     All  the  fishe.  angled  for  along  the  coast,  except 
the  striped  bass  and  bluefish,  are  usually  landed  with  a  net 
The  color  of  the  tautog  is  bluish-black,  with  a  lighter  shade 
under  che  belly  and  lower  mandible.     The  mouth  is  furnish- 
ed with  very  small  teeth.     The  engraving  is  a  perfect  coun- 
terpart of  the  fish  in  appearance. 

The  FLov^j)ER.~Pleuronectes  Flesus. 
The  flounder  is  an  important  estuary  fish  for  boys  a^H  h.  d 
line  fishers,  though  it  is  not  appreciated  very  h;.  biy  by  ^od 
fishermen.  It  is  one  of  the  latest  fishes  angled  for  in  autumn 
when  the  icicles  begin  to  form,  and  it,  is  the  first  fish  that 
bites  m  the  spring.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  estuaries  and  up 
the  tjvsrs  as  far  as  salt  water  runs;  also  in  our  bays.  It  is 
a  fisn  ,*'  ^^  tetr'perate  zone,  and,  from  its  great  nrmbers  in 
spnn^t  HI  ^^W  tLe  inlets  from  the  Atlantic,  is  a  profitable  fi«h 


I 

A  Biter  and  Broiler.  h^ 

and  a  great  blessing  to  the  poor.  Though  generally  caught 
with  a  hand-hne,  many  are  taken  m  set-nets  and  fykes.  With 
light  perch  tackle,  small  hooks,  and  clam  bait,  it  furnishes 
sport  to  the  disciple  of  rod  and  reel  Avho  does  not  fish  for 
trout,  and  has  no  fishing  in  the  vicinity  of  Ncv  York  until 
the  striped  bass  awaken  to  a  feeding  sense,  which  is  usually 
from  the  first  to  the  twentieth  of  May,  toward  the  head  of 
tide  water. 

SECTION  NINTH. 

THE   BLUEFISH. 

Professor  Mitchill  has  given  to  this  fish,  which  affords 
more  sport  witii  the  troll  than  any  other,  the  classical  name' 
of  Temnodon  Saltator,  the  first  from  temno,  to  cut  in  pieces 
probably  nidicating  its  sharp  teeth;  and  the  last  signifying 
a  pantomnne  dancer,  doubtless  with  reference  to  its  leaping 
or  skippmg;  but,  as  if  these  names  were  not  sufficiently  de- 
scriptive, he  adds  those  of  Scomber  Plumbeus,  or  leaden  mack- 
erel. 


The  Bluefish.— 7e/««o(/oH  *Sa/to^on— Mitchill. 


The  bluefish  is  known  along  the  coast  of  New  England  as 
the  horse  mackerel,  but  that  is  a  different  fish,  and  grows  to 
the  weight  of  a  thousand  pounds,  and  Gometimes  more,  while 
the  bluefish  seldom  attains  to  twenty,  though  I  have' heard 
of  thirty-pounders.  The  color  from  the  back  to  the  almost 
imperceptible  lateral  line  is  a  leaden  blue,  whence  it  o-radu- 
ally  lightens  to  a  white  belly.  The  first  dorsal  fin  is  spinous 
—very  sharp  and  strong,  while  the  second  and  anal  are  ap- 


118 


Fishing  in  Ameeicajst  Watpj 


ES. 


proximately   rigid,  being  fixed  and  translucent;  the   rays 
though  noc  spinous,  remain  standing  even  after  life  is  extinct' 
These  fins  are  like  sails  always  set,  or  like  a  centre-board 
above  as  well  as  in  the  keel.     The  body,  head,  and  fins  for 
half  an  inch  are  covered  with  infinitesimal  scales.     The  jaws 
are  very  strong,  and  the  gill-covers  like  three  plates  of  steel. 
The  jaws  are  armed  with  a  row  of  strong,  closely-set,  sharp 
teeth,  which  will  cut  a  cord  of  one  fourth  of  an  Inch  in  diam- 
eter m  two  as  smoothly  as  it  could  bo  done  witli  a  knife  for 
they  are  sharp-edged,  and  those  of  each  jaw  are  like  saw- 
teeth which  match  perfectly;  therefore  beware  of  fin-ers  in 
disIodg'Mg  a  hook  from  its  powerful  jaws. 

The  young  bluefish,  which  are  hatched  in  quiet  nooks  of 
bays  along  the  beaches,  wag  their  way  like  other  estuary 
younglings,  without  being  provided  with  a  bag  of  provision 
suspended  by  the  umbilical  cord,  like  the  young  of  the  Salmo 
genus,  but  by  ii  stinct  they  propel  their  tiny  selves  to  the  sa- 
ine  creeks  and  inlets  from  the  sea,  to  prevent  being  devoured 
by  the  parents  which  visit  the  spawning  beds  early  in  June 
to  subsist  on  such  of  their  young  as  have  not  yet  emio-rated' 
The  young  fish  are  vulgarly  called  «  snapper"  or  "  snappino- 
mackerel,"  and  are  the  bright  little 'predacious  thieves  which 
steal  by  small  particles  the  angler's  bait  before  striped  bass 
or  squeteague  can  get  a  taste  of  it.     In  October,  havino- 
grown  to  the  weight  of  half  a  pound  each,  the  shoal  reunites 
preparatory  to  going  into  winter  quarters,  where  the  Gulf 
bti-eam  keeps  the  Avater  at  an  even  temperature;  and  if  per- 
chance they  meet  gut  snells  on  their  way,  they  bite  them  in 
two  without  effort.    During  the  last  fortnight  of  their  sojourn 
near  the  shore  they  purvey  for  young  menhaden  and  spear- 
ing, but  keep  at  a  respectful  distance  from  shoals  of  older 
fish.     This  is  supposed  to  be  the  case  with  nearly  all  shoals 
of  coast  and  estuary  fishes,  and  a  shoal  is  merely  the  proo-cnv 
of  one  pair  of  fishes,  and  tJie  hatch  of  one  laying  o/'ova 
Tiiough  in  summer  they  may  wander  apart  for  food,  yet 
warned  by  an  unerring  instinct,  tliey  reunite  in  autumn  t(! 
form  an  army. 


Best  fob  Table  in  October, 


119 


The  blucfish  returns  to  our  shores  after  its  first  voyage  a 
two-i)ounder,  being  then  one  year  old ;  and  by  autumn  these 
eighteen-months'  old  fisli  weigh  from  three  to  five  pounds 
each ;  but  only  those  which  weigh  from  five  to  fifteen  pounds, 
with  a  semi-occasional  twenty-pounder,  are  regarded  as  good 
sport  for  the  troll.  These  large  ones  are  seldom  taken  in 
pounds  or  nets,  for  they  can  liberate  themselves  with  their 
teeth  from  almost  any  net  or  pen  not  made  of  steel ;  but  the 
younger  shoals  evince  more  prying  curiosity,  which  leads 
many  of  them  into  nets  fastened  to  ground  fixtures  in  suffi- 
cient numbers  to  keep  our  markets  supplied  with  them  from 
June  until  November. 

But  the  midsummer  bluefish,  having  recently  spawned  in 
our  bays,  are  lean  and  dry  food  unless  cooked  within  the  same 
hour  they  are  caught,  when  they  are  juicy  and  tender,  but . 
lack  the  rich  succulency  of  the  October  shoals.  The  bluefish 
taken  in  autumn  is  equally  good  as  a  broiler,  or  to  bake  or 
souse,  so  long  as  it  can  be  kept  sweet  by  the  use  of  ice.  This 
is  the  case  with  every  branch  of  the  mackerel  family ;  and 
the  bluefish  of  October,  when  canned  in  salt,  is  preferred  by 
many  to  the  common  mackerel.  Both  the  bluefish  and  mack- 
erel are  in  best  condition  from  tlie  middle  of  October  until 
the  tenth  of  November,  ulien  they  begin  to  deteriorate  and 
fall  away  to  thinness,  probably  because  the  butter-fisli  and 
bay-shiners  liave  settled  away  to  hibernate,  and  the  smelt  and 
spearing  have  moved  into  brackish  waters,  leaving  the  blue- 
fish no  alternative  but  to  starve  or  move  farther  south,  and 
within  the  influence  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 

It  is  well  understood  by  anuiteurs  and  fishermen  that  the 
bluefish,  like  the  ])rawn,  visit  our  bays  and  estuaries  period- 
ically, remahiing  sometimes  only  a  season,  and  at  other  times 
several  years.  The  present  visit  of  the  bluefisli  has  been  the 
longest  one  known  to  the  oldest  inluibitant  of  Long  Island, 
having  lasted  twenty  jears.  Every  year  since  its  present 
advent  it  has  hocomo  more  numerous  and  lar-gor.  In  1850, 
a  ten-pound  bluefish  was  a  greater  curiosity  than  is  a  twenty- 


120 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


pound  one  now.  Then,  shoals  of  bluefish  were  rare;  now 
they  are  to  be  met  with  every  where  that  the  angler  pi  es  hi. 
gentle  art  along  the  Atlantic  coast 

best  though  bone,  ivory,  and  pearl  are  frequently  used  in  -i 

hght  b..eze  ^.  small  fish.     Large,  heavy  baits  a're  best  fo 

arge   bluefish.      The   following    engraving   illustrates    Z 

hapes,  and  they  should  be  made  from  five  to  six  inches  t 

length,  or  they  can  be  purchased  of  the  right  weights  Ld 

patterns  at  our  best  fishing-tackle  stores 


Bluefish  Squids. 


No.  1   Matenal  German  silver,  with  a  pearl  plate  inlaid  on 
each  side.     The  shank  of  the  hook  extends  through  the 
squids,  and  the   trolling-lino   attaches  to  the    rin"  bv  'i 
double  hitch,  or  to  a  strip  of  raw  hide-whicli  is  better- 
that  plays  freely  in  the  ring.     The  points  of  the  hooks  are 
at  right  angles  with  tlie  width  of  the  squid 
Xo.  2   Block  tin  or  Britannia  metal,  flat  on  the  under  side 
and  forming  three  edges,  as  represented.     The  loop  at  the' 
end  of  the  trolling-line  closes  at  the  hole  in  the  end  of  the 
squid  by  tJirusting  the  loop  through  and  over  the  end  of 
the  squid.     On  eacli  side  of  the  middle  tliere  is  a  hole 
drilled,  m  which  red  webbing  or  burnt  wool  l,raid  is  in- 
serted, and  a  knot  formed  witl,  it  n.  represented,  ibr  eitlier 
red  cloth  or  blood  attract  nearly  all  species  of  game  fisli 


SiiAKP  Hooks  and  Strong  Lines.  121 

The  hooks  should  be  very  strong,  and  the  points  should  be 
hied  very  sharp :  this  last  piece  of  advice  applies  to  all  hooks 
tor  all  kinds  of  fishing,  and  its  importance  is  not  generally 
appreciated  by  amateur  fishermen. 

Trolling-lines  of  cotton  are  better  than  linen  lines.     They 
should  be  hawser-laid,  so  as  not  to  kink,  and  be  from  three 
eighths  to  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter.     Although  it  is 
well  to  have  then,  fifty  yards  in  length,  yet  when  the  fish  are 
feeding  in  earnest  fifty  feet  is  line  enough  to  let  oflf.    Always 
fasten  the  end  of  your  line  to  the  boat,  and  in  case  you  put 
outriggers,  a  check  line  should  be  attached  to  each  to  draw 
them  to  the  boat  or  yacht,  so  as  to  take  hold  of  them  without 
disturbmg  the  rigger.    Lines  to  outriggers  should  be  so  short 
as  to  skitter  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 

Gloves  of  heavy  woolen  yarn  should  be  worn;  the  line 
will  wear  through  leather  much  quicker  than  throucrh  wool 
and  woolen  gloves  do  not  slip,  and  they  are  more  comforta- 
ble to  the  hands.  It  is  common  to  double  the  gloves  over 
the  forefinger  and  on  the  under  side  of  the  little  fingers 
Buckskin  or  dogskin,  the  two  best  kinds  of  leather  to  use 
when  wet,  are  only  a  momentary  protection,  good  for  noth- 
ing as  trolling-gloves  or  thumb-stalls. 


'V- 


V- 


Thk  Flying  Fish. 


122 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Trim  the  white  sail ;  the  rising  breeze 

Blows  fleshly  from  the  open  seas ; 

It  ripjjles  over  ocean's  breast, 

Tips  with  the  foam  each  billow's  crest. 

Now  cast  astern  the  drijiping  line, 

That  cuts  and  whistles  through  the  brine. 


TROLLING  FOR  BLUEFISIL 

EOLLiNG  for  bliiefish  by 
New  York    sportsmen    is 
generally    done    in    sail- 
boats, and  the  flood  tide  is 
best.     Therefore,  whether 
we  start  Avith  sail-boat  or 
yacht  from  the  city,  or  go 
to  Islip   or  South  Oyster 
Bay,  or  to  Rockaway  or 
Canarsie  to  sail  from,  it  is 
best  to  sail  out  to  the  feed- 
ing-grounds during  the  ebb 
tide,  so  as  to  be  sure  of  no 
delay  after  the  fish  begin 
to  bite ;  and  as  the  fish  ap- 


How  TO  Sail  and  Tkoll. 


123 


proacli  nearer  shore  with  the  rising  tide,  tlie  sail-boats  may 
be  working  nearer  home,  so  as  not  to  be  obliged  to  stem  a 
strong  ebb  tide  in  returning  to  port.  The  best  grounds  fgr 
large  blueiish  are  outside  and  near  the  inlets  of  Fire  Island. 
These  inlets  are  formed  by  the  tides  of  the  Atlantic  passing 
through  Fire  Island  into  the  South  Bay ;  the  principal  ones 
are  opposite  Islip  and  South  Oyster  Bay.  But  late  in  the 
fall  the  best  trolling  is  off  Rockaway  and  Jamaica  Bay,  the 
grounds  extending  from  the  Highlands,  off  the  Jersey  shore, 
to  some  ten  miles  below  the  light-ship. 

As  a  sample  of  the  sport,  I  will  recount  my  last  day's  ex- 
perience. My  respected  friend  Gilsten  having  retired  nearly 
twenty  years  ago  to  the  charming  village  of  Fort  Hamilton, 
of  which  he  owns  the  greater  part,  residing  on  the  border 
of  the  trolling-grounds,  and  in  close  proximity  to  the  favor- 
ite resorts  of  sheepshead,  squeteague,  and  kingfish,  has  given 
his  exclusive  attention  to  field-sports  for  many  years,  anglino- 
and  trolling  in  the  waters  between  New  York  City  and  the 
Narrows  until  November,  when  he  repairs  to  his  island  near 
the  coast  of  Virginia,  and  shoots  duck  and  wild  geese  until 
the  first  of  January.  Being  a  gentleman  of  good  taste  and 
large  experience,  as  he  could  not  angle  in  the  winter,  he  hab 
kindly  employed  his  time  in  designing  trolls  and  stools  for 
fishing  and  shooting.  Well,  my  friend  Gilsten  called  at  my 
office  one  evening  late  last  October,  and  left  me  two  squids, 
with  notice  that  the  bluefish  were  biting  generously  in  the 
Lower  Bay,  and  that  he  would  be  obliged  if  I  would  try  his 
newly-designed  models,  of  which  the  foregoing  samples  were 
copies.  I  th  refore  acted  promptly  upon  his  generous  adv4ce, 
and  called  on  my  angling  friend  Charles  Gaylor  and  several 
others,  all  of  whom  agreed  to  meet  me  promptly  next  morn- 
ing at  seven  o'clock  at  the  yacht  moored  in  Jamaica  Bay. 
Of  course  none  of  them  came  to  time ;  and  as  Captain  Morri- 
son brought  the  yacht  alongside  the  dock,  a  haze,  perceptible 
on  the  waters,  was  just  lifting  at  the  rise  of  the  sun.  A  "'en- 
erous  breeze  flapped  the  sails  of  the  trolling  crafts  lyinf-to 


I 


124 


Fishing  in  Ami-kicas  Watees. 


awaiting  company,  but  nearly  all  the  trolling  fleet  had  «ail,vl 
ho„..s  betbi^unc.  the  lowne»s  of  the  ebb  tid!  I™^r tt 

Island  and  Rockaway  Beach,  amid  shrieks  of  gulls  and  fli.,hts 
of  duek,  the  sun  lighting  up  the  beach  and  the  breake."  a.,d 

th    clouds  of  fog  which  at  fitful  turns  enveloped  us.    Pre" 
outly  a  gentle,  fog-subduing  warmth,  with  wind  freshening 

"gtso^""^ '"'''  '"""^ '"°"'"'  -''  ="' «-  «"i°- 

"On  the  surface  ranging,  boys, 
We'll  beat  from  bay  to  bay', 
Sea  and  water  changing,  boys,' 
It's  the  angler's  way : 
So  we  troll, 
One  and  all, 
And  cheerily,  cheerily  pass  the  day.  "-Stoddaht 
We  passed  on  near  the  Black  Warrior,  whose  battered 
™ck  was  lifted  silently  above  the  waves  as'  a  warl  " 

•  ^ITV^Z'T'"'  ''''"'^^-     '^""''^''^  ''''  ^^-™-«  and  the 
n!  eat'  ..'     "'  f '"""'^  "^^^  ^'^'^  ^-^"^^^  -^^  eross- 

"  Why  snre,  thought  they, 
The  devil's  to  pay, 
'Mongst  folks  above  the  water." 
Soon  we  joined  the  merry  fleet.     Our  trolls  had  been  put 
out.  as  we  entered  the  bay,  and  our  outriggers  from  each  Id 
of  the  craft,  a  httle  aft  of  midships,  consisting  of  stiff  poles 
with  a  hne  attached  to  the  end  of  each,  and  a  troll  at  the  oth- 
er end,  but  the  line  so  short  that  the  troll  skittered  on  the  top 
of   he  waves.     A  check  line  was  fastened  to  the  main  one 
with  Its  end  in  the  boat,  so  as  to  draw  the  main  line  in  with^ 
out  moving  the  hoop-pole  rod  to  which  it  was  attached.     I„ 
addition  to  the  two  outriggers  we  had  four  trolling-lines  out, 
th    ends  of  which  were  fastened  to  the  taffrail  of  the  boat. 
Captain  Morrison  took  the  first  fish,  a  ten-pounder.    «  Small  " 
said  the.  captain.     Presently  a  whirl  was  made  at  one  of  m'y 


Gay  Parties  all  Engaged.  '  125 

squids ;  another  dash,  and  he  hooked  himself.     I  took  hold  to 
pull  him  in  hand  over  hand,  but  the  pull  was  quite  enough 
for  me.    Before  I  landed  him  another  was  on  my  other  squid, 
which  my  helper  landed.     Now  a  whopper  fastened  to  my 
first  hook,  and  I  found  him  difficult  to  draw  in;  he  weighed 
nearly  twenty  pounds,  and  was  as  much  as  I  could  manage. 
The  prospect  was  most  gay  and  enlivening,  as  the  fleet  con- 
sisted of  small  sail-boats,  cat-boats,  sloops,  schooners,  and 
yachts,  over  sixty  in  all,  crossing  and  jibing.  Mobile  the  troll- 
ers  were  tugging  and  hauling  at  fish,  and  all  seemed  to  vie 
witli  the  jollity  of  the  gulls  and  the  fun  of  the  loons,  which 
kept  jabbering,  with  now  and  then  a  scream  and  hurrah,  as 
if  they  joined  in  our  sport. 

We  continued  trolling  until  noon,  when  the  wind  died  away, 
and  we  turned  our  craft  homeward.  We  counted  our  take, 
whicU  numbered  thirty-six  fish,  and  weighed  four  hundred  and 
eighty  pounds,  avei-aging  over  thirteen  pounds  each.  Thus 
ended  one  of  the  most  interesting,  health-giving,  and  delight- 
ful days  of  the  season. 

Trolling  with  sail  and  row  boats  in  September  and  October 
is  extensively  indulged  in  by  amateurs  and  professional  fish- 
ermen who  fish  for  a  livelihood  along  the  shores  from  the 
east  end  of  Massachusetts  to  Chesapeake  Bay;  and  as  the 
shoals  begin  to  turn  southward  in  September,  the  best  troll- 
ing  is  in  October  along  Long  Island  and  the  Jersey  shores, 
after  which  the  angling  is  good  along  the  coasts  of  Maryland 
and  Virginia  up  to  December. 

Although  the  bluefish  is  sufficiently  plucky  to  take  a  coarse 
troll,  and  few  venture  to  angle  for  him  with  ordinary  tackle 
even  with  gimp  snells,  yet,  with  good  bass-tackle  and  strong 
hooks,  cither  wound  with  copper  wire  on  a  heavy  gimp  lead"- 
er  or  snell,  or  with  a  hook  fastened  with  wire  to  a  piano 
strmg,  capital  sport  is  found  at  still-baiting  for  them  from  a 
boat  anchored  along  the  edge  of  tideways  in  the  estuaries 
and  near  the  shores  of  bays.     The  coast  of  Rhode  Island,  and 


126 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


the  islands  which  form  the  Elizabeth  group,  are  filled  with 
shoals  of  them  all  summer  and  fall,  whqre  they  forage  foi- 
menhaden  and  young  mackerel ;  and,  anchoring  in  either  of 
the  straits  which  separate  those  islands,  we  find  that  the  cast 
of  a  menhaden  bait  is  usually  met  by  the  generous  offers  of 
half  a  dozen  fish,  whose  whirls  make  the  tide  boil.     Were  it 
not  that  the  electrical  jerk  of  the  bite  of  a  large  itluefish  has 
such  great  power  in  it  as  to  make  the  angler  sometimes  feel 
that  he  too  is  being  fished  for,  and  that  its  teeth  are  so  sharp 
as  to  make  strong  and  heavy  tackle  necessary,  it  would  be 
considered  incomparably  the  highest  game-fish  of  the  Ameri- 
can coast. 

When  estimating  the  value  of  anglers'  fishes  by  the  play 
they  give,  and  the  sceney  into  Avhich  the  angler  is  led  in 
search  of  each  kind,  the  bluefish  must  occupy  a  foremost 
rank ;  and  the  man  who  has  neither  trolled  nor  still-baited  for 
this  peculiar  fish— the  best  breakfast  fish  on  our  coast  e'xcept 
the  Spanish  mackerel  —  has  two  treats  in  store,  which,  the 
sooner  he  improves,  the  earlier  he  will  regi-et  that  he  had  not 
tasted  before. 


SECTION  TENTH, 

THE   SPANISH   MACKEREL. 

LoA-ely  with  all  their  spangled  dyes, 
Fairer  than  flush 'd  autumnal  skies, 
With  gold-drops  all  their  sides  a-glow, 
Tinct  like  the  rainbow's  prismy  bow, 
The  Spanish  mackerel  gorgeous  roam 
The  rolling,  yeasty  world  of  foam ; 
Now  glittering  o'er  the  waves  they  skim, 
Now  lost  in  deep  abysses  swim. 

Tills  incomparable  breakfast  luxury  is  a  comparative  stran- 
ger to  us,  and,  though  never  known  to  venture  as  far  north 
as  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude  until  about  ten  years  since, 
yet  his  families  are  now  as  numerous  on  our  coast  as  are  those 
of  most  other  estuary  fishes.  He  is  coy  and  careful,  slow  to 
make  acquaintance,  and  donbtfiil  of  a  squid  or  baited  hook. 


Beauty  Unadorned. 


12: 


A  select  family  of  the  mackerel  tribes,  he  is  not  yet  fully  un- 
•lerstoocl  by  either  amateurs  or  fishermen,  and  commands  a 
higher  price  than  salmon  in  the  markets.  Apart  from  being 
the  greatest  beauty  that  swims,  he  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
fish  for  the  gridiron  to  be  found  in  the  waters  of  either  hem- 
isphere. 


The  Spanish  Mackeiiel. 

My  experience  in  trolling  for  the  Spanish  mackerel  off  the 
inlets  of  Fire  Island  has  convinced  me  that  the  fish  is  as  nu- 
merous as  the  bluefish,  more  so  than  the  sti-iped  bass  at  cer- 
tain seasons,  and  a  little  farther  seaward  than  either  of  those 
fishes.  The  striped  bass  is  the  fish  which  ventures  nearest 
shore ;  the  bluefish  feeds  in  a  range  farther  from  shore,  and 
the  Spanish  mackerel  feeds  farther  from  shore  than  either, 
except  the  large  bluefish  at  the  last  of  the  season.  Every 
year  the  shoals  of  Spanish  mackerel  become  more  numerous, 
and  more  are  taken,  but  never  in  sufficient  numbers  to  reduce 
the  average  price  below  sixty  cents  per  pound. 

The  shor.ls  which  I  saw,  when  last  trolling  for  them,  would 
have  formed  an  area  of  nearly  five  miles  square,  and  still  tlie 
most  successful  boat  did  not  take  more  than  a  dozen  in  three 
days.  He  Avill  not  bite  freely  at  any  artificial  lure,  and 
though  numbers  came  near  leaping  on  the  deck  of  our  yacht, 
they  treated  our  lures  with  an  indiflference  which  savored  of 
perverseness.  "  Oh  !"  thought  I, "  how  I  would  like  to  be  an- 
chored in  a  small  boat,  and  still-bait  for  you  with  a  pearl 
squid,  a  shiner,  or  a  gar-eel !"  But  the  difficulty  was  that 
their  favorite  feedihg-grounds  seemed  to  be  just  beyond  the 
verge  of  anchorage  for  a  row-boat.  This  fish  is  eminently 
shy  of  all  kinds  of  nets,  and,  when  a  shoal  is  surrounded  by  a 


128 


FisuiNG  IN  Amekican  Wateks. 


I 


»( 


IP 


shir-net  or  seine,  will  point  their  heads  down  in  the  bottom  of 
sand  or  weeds,  and  the  nets  glide  over  their  backs  without 
capturing  one.     Two  intelligent  fishermen  of  the  south  side 
of  Long  Island,  men  well  learned  in  their  trade,  and  who 
have  for  many  years  followed  fishing  successfully,  concluded 
that  they  would  turn  their  exclusive  attention  to  the  Spanish 
macke)-el,  and,  by  studying  their  habits  and  watcliing  their 
movements,  invent  some  plan  for  their  capture,  and  thus  en- 
rich themselves.     They  persevered  for  three  years,  try:>3g  all 
sorts  of  artificial  lures,  difierently  constructed  nets  and  fykes, 
set  in  different  ways,  besides  employing  the  Spanish  casting- 
net  ;  but  their  patience  became  so  exhausted  that  they  re- 
linquished the  enterprise,  and  had  learned  to  look  at  a  shoal 
leaping  so  that  thousands  were  above  the  wave  at  a  time 
without  causing  the  slightest  emotion  or  sensation  of  either 
hope  or  fear.     A  few  silly  fish  occasionally  stray  away  from 
their  shoal,  and  are  found  in  a  fyke  or  pound,  and  an  occasion- 
al one  hooks  himself  by  indulging  a  dangerous  curiosity;  but 
the  genius  who  will  invent  a  successful  method  for  taking 
the  Spanish  mackerel  may  be  as  sure  of  a  fortune  as  the  person 
who  owns  a  goose  which  lays  a  large  egg  of  gold  every  day. 
The  Spanish  mackerel  is  much  more  beautiful  than  the 
dolphin,  even  when  the  latter  is  dying.     Its  back  and  sides, 
down  to  the  corrugated  lateral  line,  are  dark  blue,  shot  with 
purple  and  gold ;  below  the  line  it  is  pink  and  gold  for  a 
short  way,  terminating  in  a  white  belly.     The  shaded  parts 
of  the  body  are  orn.miented  with  spots  of  gold,  like  new  gold 
dollars,  to  the  number  of  between  twenty  and  thirty.     Its 
scales  are  imperceptible  to  the  nakxl  eye,  but  they  extend  a 
short  way  up  the  fins  also.     The  first  dorsal  is  spinous-rayed,   -^ 
and  the  first  rays  of  the  second  dorsal  and  pectoral  are  spin- 
ous; all  the  rest  are  soft,  though  the  tail  and  anal  fins  are 
nearly  rigid  or  set,  and  do  not  fall  together  or  close  like  those 
of  the  common  mackerel.     There  is  a  suiall  adipose  fin  on 
each  side  extending  from  the  tail  three  inches  upward.     Its 
head  is  a  perfect  cut-water,  carved  most  artistically,  and  small 


TiiE  Breakfast  Luxury  of  the  Age.  12U 

i.i  proportion.  Its  jaw8  are  armed  with  small,  fine  teeth,  that 
laugh  at  S.Ik  or  linen  reel-lines;  gills  of  two  rigidly  resisting 
plies;  meat  white,  but  neither  mealy  nor  flaky,  thouc^h  of 
close  texture,  creamy  and  peculiarly  delicate,  of  most"  deli- 
eious  flavor. 

The  Spanish  mackerel  is  seldom  taken  with  rod  and  reel 
though  small  ones  of  from  three  to  six  pounds  sometimes 
venture  to  taste  a  baited  hook.     I  i,ave  taken  two  while 
angling  for  striped  bass  with  shedder  crab  bait ;  but  it  is  em- 
inentb^  a  fish  for  the  troll,  if  captivating  trolls  can  be  invent- 
ed.    These  fish  surround  a  shoal  of  gar-eels,  butter-fish,  shin- 
ers, spearmg,  or  young  menhaden,  when  the  tiny  baits-anx- 
.0U8  to  eseape-rise  to  the  surface,  followed  by  the  Spanish 
mackere  ,  which  may  be  seen  two  miles  distant,  leaping  a 
housand  at  a  time,  their  forked  tails  conspicuous,  and  their 
bodies  gleaming  like  miniature  rainbows.    The  bite  of  a  Span- 
ish  mackerel  is  very  different  from  that  of  a  bluefish      It  is 
not  so  dashing  or  strong ;  and  when  hooked,  it  swims  deeper 
and  does  not  resist  so  pertinaciously.     In  size  it  ranges  from' 
hree  to  fifteen  pounds.     It  is  often  reported  as  having  been 
taken  of  thirty  pounds*  weight,  but  this,  I  think,  is  an  error 
1  he  bonetta  is  very  like  it  in  outline,  and  it  is  also  a  compar- 
ative stranger  along  our  coast ;  one  of  these  fish  was  recently 
taken  m  Jamaica  Bay  which  weighed  about  thirty  pounds 
and  tlie  daily  papers  noticed  it  as  a  large  Spanish  mackerel- 
but  the  bonetta-as  a  food  fish-is  vastly  inferior 

Both  Che  Spanish  mackerel  and  cero  are  spring-spawning 
fishes  and  no  doubt  spawn  in  our  bays,  for  there  are  occa 
sionally  small  ones  taken  by  the  angler  in  June,  before  the 
large  ones  visit  our  shores,  and  I  argue,  therefore,  that  the 
small  half-pounders  are  of  last  year's  hatch 

Spanish  mackerel  and  large  bluefish  shoal  together  while 
ceding,  and  woe  be  it  to  any  soft-rayed  herbivorous  beauty 
that  crosses  their  path.     Bluefish  and  striped  bass  feed  to- 
gether also,  but  the  bass  swims  deeper  than  the  bluefi-h  and 
generally  nearer  shore.    This  is  frequently  proven  while  'cast^ 


130 


Fishing  in  Amkkican  Waters. 


iiig  for  striped  bass;  lor  if  tlie  cast  be  made  beyond  a  certain 
range,  the  angler  is  sure  of  a  bhietisli,  if  any  thing. 

1  have  here  rouglily  skctdied  a  part  ot  a  shoal  of  Spanish 
mackerel  feeding.     To  troll  \\  ith  hope  of  success  for  these 


r 


S 


/" 


^^^^■t^yS-^J'  '' 


Spanish  Mackeuel  Fkluing. 

delicacies,  employ  a  light,  swift-sailing  craft,  and  ri^:  it  with 
a  long  outrigger  on  each  side ;  for  a  heavy  vessel  cleaving  a 
shoal  disperses  the  live  bait  on  Avhich  they  arc  feeding,  and 
the  fright  causes  the  shoal  to  settle  ^^  iLiiout  biting.  Fre- 
quently  have  I  trolled  through  a  shoal  of  thousands,  with 
hundreds  in  sight  all  the  time,  and  as  the  craft  passed  through 
and  got  far  enough  from  the  shoal  to  tell, I  have  felt  the  bite, 
and,  Avhile  drawing  the  fish  in,  have  commented  upon  the  ease 
of  detecting  the  diftei-ence  between  the  Spanish  mackerel  on 
my  troll  from  the  hard-mouthed  bluefish,  only  to  be  laughed 
at  a  moment  afterward  as  I  landed  a  bluefish  in  the  boat. 
Said  I, "This  is,  of  course,  a  Spanish  mackerel;  any  novice 
might  distinguish  him  by  his  bite  ;  and  then  he  comes  in  so 
gently,  but  swims  low."  I  can  detect  by  the  bite,  when  still- 
baiting,  almost  any  kind  of  estuary  fish;  but  in  trolling  any 
angler  is  liable  to  be  deceived. 

From  the  limited  exiierience  thus   far   ixaiued  bv  usinsr 


CUEIOUS   FANCk    OF   F18IIE8. 


131 


brigljt  inctiil  trolls,  not  one  Spanish  mackcrol  in  ton  thousand 
will  j)ay  the  least  regard  to  them.  Having  ascertained  that 
they  feed  on  several  kinds  of  fishes,  the  squid-makers  have 
recently  obtained  some  data  to  work  from,  and  the  following 
are  the  latest  and  most  captivating  sam|)les. 


yi'ANisu  Mackeuel  Syuios. 

A.  Artificial  squid  or  bait,  made  of  Britannia  metal,  block  tin, 
or  German  silver.     The  hooks  of  all  trolls  should  be  tinned 
or  silver-plated.     The  shank  of  the  hook  extends  through 
the  squid,  and  forms  an  eye  to  attach  a  trolling-Iine.    Feadi- 
ers  extend  beyond  the  bend  of  the  hook  to  form  the  tail 
of  the  gar-eel.     The  form  of  the  H(iuid  is  tapering,  cylin- 
drical, and  about  five  inches  long  exclusive  of  the  hook.    It 
should  be  kept  polished  as  bright  as  possible,  and  is  a  very 
taking  lure.     A  tail  of  red  ibis  feathers  would  probably  be 
the  most  attractive. 
B.  Squid  as  bright  as  polished  silver,  inlaid  with  pieces  of 
peari,  and  intended  to  represent  a  sea -shiner,  about  five 
niches  long  besides  the  hook.     The  line  is  attached  by  a 
hole  in  the  end,  and  at  the  other  there  are  several  small 
feathers  from  the  red  ibis.     The  shape  of  the  body  is  lialf 
as  thick  as  it  is  wide,  and  in  order  to  render  it  as  i^ondei-- 
ous  as  possible  for  its  size,  it  is  best  to  cast  it  of  lead  over 
the  hook,  then  plate  it  with  copper,  and  plate  or  wash  it 
with  silver.     Spanish  mackerel  do  not  generally  feed  on 
fish  as  large  as  the  bluefish  bait,  and  it  is  therefore  impor- 


t.  Hi 


I!'  i 


i 


M 


! 


■  t 


iiJi 


i;{-i 


Fishing  in  Americaj^  Waters. 


taut  to  liavo  u  small  but  pon.lorous  bait  attaclicd  to  a  fifty- 
yard  hnv  of  the  smallest  si/o  for  trollin-      The  jaw  of  tl.c 
Spanisl.  inack(>rol  is  toiwlor,  tliercforo  lio  plays  more  -iu- 
^or\y,  and  does  not  resist  so  hard  in  landing  as  does  Ihc 
Nueiisli;  but  he  should  be  handled  earefully,  and  prevent- 
ed from  taking  slack  lim^  as  he  unhooks  easily 
My  opinion  is  that  this  fish  will  yet  be  taken  in  great  num- 
l.ors  with  ro,l  and  reel.     As  they  annually  beeome  n.ore  nu- 
••U'rous,  they  eome  farther  into  the  estuaries  an<l  baek-sets 
fro,u  the  bays  along  the  coast,  and  after  tlu^y  get  a  taste  of 
shed.ler  and  sofl-shell  erab,  with  smelt  in  abundance,  and  a 
...odicum  of  spearing  and  shrimp,  they  will  soon  make  them- 
selves more  fi.miliar,  and  accept  tJie  dainties  offered  on  the 
angler's  hook  ;  and  when  once  fairly  converted,  he  will  afford 
the  angler  better  sport  than  the  salmon  or  the  striped  bass. 

SECTION  ELEVENTH. 

THE    UONETTA,  OIJ    HOMTO. 

The  bonetta  is  the  heautiful  and  swift  fish  after  which  on.- 
of  our  war  vessels  of  the  Kevolution  was  named.     The  Span- 
ish name  is  bomfo.     T  prc-fer  the  other  na.ue  because  of  its 
associations.     This  fish  is  fouml  in  great  numbers  about  tlu- 
U  est  India  Islands,  where  it  preys  on  the  flyin--fish      Uh 
hrst  arrival  along  our  beaches  and  in  our  bays'was  about 
<Mght  years  ago,  and  his  shoals  have  increased  remarkablv 
fast  over  since  his  advent.     As  a  table  luxury  it  ranks  witi, 
ypM'ures  below  the  striped  bass  and  bluefish,  i)ut  because  of 
•  ts  comparative  rarity  it  commands  a  price  rather  above 


Thi;  IJonktta,  o.:  Boyiro.  —  mp>„i,s  j,el,,w>/s.-.Cxixiev. 


LovKs  Flying-fisii,  laughs  at  Tuollk.  13;^ 

•'ithcr.  The  miml.crs  (>f  tliis  fish  animully  taken  about  tlu- 
approaches  to  our  liarbors  witli  the  troll  and  in  nets  increase, 
so  that  it  bids  fair  to  bcconu;  nearly  as  numerous  as  the  l)lne- 
tish.  Of  the  shoals  which  venture  along  the  shores  of  beaches 
or  breakwaters,  the  iisli  i-ange  in  weight  Ironi  five  to  fifteen 
pounds,  whik^  farther  south  they  are  said  to  attain  to  the 
weight  of  nearly  a  hundred. 

The  menhaden  of  our  shores  form  the  leading  attraction  to 
the  food-fishes  of  the  troll,  and  they  are  so  pr..lific  that,  if  they 
can  be  protected  against  oily  speculators,  there  will  be  no 
danger  of  our  losing  entirely  any  of  the  large  food-fishes  of 
the  coast. 

The  bonetta  is  veiy  beautiful,  having  a  dark  greenish-blue 
back,  which  lightens  to  midsidcs,  and  terminates  in  a  satiny 
white  belly.     The  diagonal  rays  are  nearly  black,  and  extend 
a  little  below  the  sinuous  lateral  line.     The  first  dorsal  is 
s])inous,  as  are  the  first  rays  of  the  second  dorsal  and  pecto- 
ral.   Tlie  tail  is  framed  by  two  spinous  rays,  and  never  closes. 
The  anal  fin  is  also  rigid.    There  is  an  adipose  fin  about  three 
inches  long  from  the  tail  up  the  lateral  line,  as  on  the  Spanish 
mackerel  and  cero.     The  mouth  is  armed  with  teeth  both 
strong  and  sharp.     The  tufts  of  fins  from  the  second  dorsal 
and  anal  to  the  tail  add  to  its  superior  means  of  propulsion, 
and  its  shape,  being  i)erfectly  adapted  to  cleaving  the  waters,' 
prove  it  to  be  one  of  the  swiftest  fishes  of  the  soundings  and 
harbor  approaches.     Its  scales  are  so  small  as  not  to  be  seen 
without  the  aid  of  glasses.     It  is  usually  taken  on  a  large 
metal  scpiid  in  trolling  for  bluefish,  and  very  few  have  been 
cauglit  in  fykes  and  pounds.     It  is  a  very  voracious  fish,  and 
generally  in  good  condition  and  very  ganfj-.    It  spawns  about 
June  in  our  bays,  but  probably  earlier  in  the  season  farther 
south.     While  angling  in  company  with  Alderman  Dodge, 
last  year,  in  Jamaica  Bay,  he  took  one  which  weighed  less 
than  a  pound,  on  shedder-crab  bait;  it  was  one  of  a  shoal 
hatched  the  year  previous.     Some  fif^hing  naturalists  state 
that  it  spawns  about  the  islaiuls  of  tlu  Western  Archipelago, 


134 


FisnmG  IN  AaiEKicAN  Waters, 


Iff 


where  it  is  known  as  the  "albicore,"  and  comes  to  Northern 
waters  for  recnperation.  Others  suppose  it  to  be  the  "  tunny," 
which  follows  ships  for  the  crumbs  from  the  table,  and  at- 
tains, off  the  coast  of  Spain  and  in  the  Mediterranean,  the 
weight  of  a  thousand  pounds.  I  do  not  believe  the  bonctta 
to  be  similar  to  the  tunny,  but  I  know  that  it  is  called  albi- 
core by  sonie  Southern  fishermen.  The  fishes  of  our  coast 
and  estuaries  which  I  name  as  belonging  to  the  troll  are  sup- 
posed to  be  of  this  hemispliere,  and  are  spine-rayed  families 
of  the  mackerel  tribes.  I  am  often  surprised  at  the  innocence 
of  intelligent  anglers*,  who  do  not  know  a  cero  from  a  Spanish 
mackerel,  nor  the  latter  from  a  bonetta,  or  a  spearing  from  a 
smelt,  and  can  not  distinguish  the  great  Northern  pike  from 


the  maskinonge 


SECTION  TWELFTH. 


THE   CERO,  CERUS,  OR  SIERRA. 


It  is  rather  a  cereus  matter  to  ascertain  the  names  of  such 
fishes  as  ichthyologists  have  left  out  of  their  catalogues;  and 
as  I  make  no  pretensions  of  claiming  this  to  be  a  school-book, 
the  angler  will  please  scan  the  illustrations  which  I  made  per- 
sonally from  the  fishes  of  which  these  are  intended  to  be  true 
copies. 


The  Ceko,  Cerus,  Oh  Sierra. 
The  cero  is  evidently  a  member  of  one  of  the  mackerel 
tribes,  and  in  esculent  quality  ranks  between  the  Spanish 
mackerel  and  bonetta.  It  is  a  now  visitant  along  the  shores 
from  Virginia  to  Rhode  Island,  but  it  is  quite  numerous  in 
the  West  Indies.  It  evidently  spawns  in  spring-time;  is 
white-meated;  ranges  in  weight  from  four  to  twelve  pounds ; 
is  longer  in  proportion  to  its  vvcight  than  any  other  of  his 


Tup:  Estuary  Sentinel. 


13^ 


mackerol  kindred ;  an  individual  specimen  a  yard  in  lengtli 
weighs  from  six  to  eight  pounds  only.  The  cero  is  of  a  lead- 
en color  on  the  back  and  sides ;  belly  and  belly-fins  white ; 
back  and  sides  sprinkled  thickly  with  black  dots  nearly  the 
size  of  peas.  The  first  dorsal  is  spinous,  as  are  also  the  first 
rays  of  the  pectorals  and  second  dorsal ;  all  the  others  are 
rigid,  but  not  spinous.  The  frame  of  the  tail  is  spinous,  blit 
tfie  tail  is  translucent ;  it  has  an  adipose  fin  each  side  on  the 
lateral  line  at  the  tail.  Its  jaws  are  armed  with  serrulated 
teeth  which  laugh  at  any  cords  softer  than  coi)per  wire.  I 
believe  that  none  have  yet  been  taken  with  rod  and  reel, 
though  they  are  said  to  be  very  ravenous  biters  and  ambi- 
tious vaulters,  which  can  leap  much  higher  than  a  salmon. 
They  are  taken  in  increased  numbers  annually  by  persons'' 
while  trolling  with  common  Britannia  metal  squids  for  blue- 
fish.    This  fish  has  no  apparent  scales. 

THE    HORSE   MACKEREL. 

( HIS  monster  mackerel  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  "  thynnus^''  as 
some  members  of  its  family 
weigh  nearly  a  ton ;  but  I 
may  be  in  error,  and  the  fish 
may  be    the   head  of  the 
mackerel  tribes,  whose  fam- 
ily commands  the  coast  from 
Nantucket  to  the  Straits  of 
Belle  Isle.     At  Quebec  and 
Gaspe  it  is  called  "Bluefish." 
The  name  may  have  been  de- 
rived from  its  leaden  color, 
and  having  a  head  like  the  New  York  bluefish,  though  its 
body  discloses  a  few  mackerel  marks,  and'its  tail  is  like  that 
of  the  honito.     While  in  Gaspe  I  sketched  the  head  and  tail 
of  a  horse  mackerel  which  had  just  been  harpooned  in  the 
Bay  of  Gaspe  by  Thomas  Morland,  Esq.     The  fish  weighed 


1^6 


Fishing  in  American  Wat: 


EKS. 


seven  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  was  nine  feet  in  length,  and 
SIX  feet  in  circumference.     The  ilhistration  here  given  is  a 


The  Horse  Mackerel.— Genus  T/ii/nnus. 
copy  of  my  sketch  of  the  fish  made  from  still  life.     As  Gaspe 
.s  a  great  fishing  port,  the  "  old  salts"  would  have  det  cted 
this  fish  as  a  tunny,  had  it  been  one.     That  it  is  a  great  deli- 
cacy for  the  table  is  proven  by  its  marketable  value,  which 
nearly  equals,  per  pound,  that  of  the  salmon  hi  the  vicinity 
where  both  fishes  are  i.iken.    It  is  stated  that  this  fish  attains 
to  the  weight  of  two  thousand  pounds,  but  it  is  very  rare  to 
take  one  of  more  than   a   thousand.     This  eight-hundred- 
pounder  towed  the  boat  to  which  the  line  of  the  harpoon- 
was  fastened  nearly  five   miles.     They  an    taken,  like  the 
swordfish,  by  sailing  for  them ;  and  when  coming  on  a  shoal 
or  even  a  single  one,  a  well-aimed  harpoon  is  sent  into  the 
hsh  where  its  head  unites  to  the  body,  and  then  the  towing- 
line  IS  manned  carefully,  and  the  fish  tows  the  boat  until  he 
gets  fatigued,  and,  when  in  a  fainting  condition,  the  lance 
bleeds  him  in  the  gills,  and  he  is  towed  alongside  until  his 
powerful  rigid  tail  has  made  its  last  flap;  then  he  is  raised 
into  the  boat,  a  subject  of  wonder  to  the  amateur.     I  think 
the  horse  mackerel  one  of  the  links  in  the  chain  of  fishe. 
whose  head  is  the  tunny,  and  which  rank  as  follows :  Tunny 
horse  mackerel,  bonetta,  bluefish,  Spanish  mackerel,  cero 
wmding  up  with  the  common  mackerel,  which— as  the  bar- 
ber said  of  the  baker  when  asked  to  shave  a  coal-heaver- 
"is  as  low  as  we  go." 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  conformation,  of  the  horse  mackerel 


Habits  of  Fishes  Illustbated.  137 

that  his  propulsive  power  is  equal  in  proportion  to  that  of 
the  bluefish,  and  so  are  his  teeth.     The  foot  or  hand  of  a  man 
would  stand  no  chance  in  the  jaws  of  this  monster  delicacy, 
lalk  of  the  bad  reputation  of  the  Sllurus  glanis  of  the  Pan- 
ube  because  portions  of  human  bodies  have  been  found  in 
their  stomachs!  the  horse  mack  .-el  would  make  nothino-  of 
choppmg  up  both  man  and  fish.     This  is  not  a  fish  for  the 
troll,  or  the  rod  and  reel;  for  it  is  as  strong  in  proportion  to 
Its  weight  as  the  bluefish,  and  it  would  trouble  an  angler  to 
kill  a  thirty-pound  bluefish,  or  even  take  him  in  by  trollinc. 
But  sailing  for  horse  mackerel  is  rare  sport ;  and  I  would  ad-' 
vise  those  about  New  Bedford  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  who 
dehght  so  inuch  in  sailing  for  and  harpooning  swordfish,  t<. 
sail  down  about  Nantucket  for  horse  mackerel,  where  thev 
are  comparatively  numerous. 

To  conclude :  Having  presented  the  best  samples  of  the 
coast  and  estuaries  for  affording  sport  by  the  recreative  art 
of  anghng,!  will  postpone  for  the  present  the  description  of 
those  commercial  fishes  which  belong  of  right  to  the  liarpoon 
the  net,  and  the  hand-line.  ' 

Pale  student,  who  consumes  the  night 
Witli  learned  vigils  till  ihe  light ; 
Merchant,  who  toils  in  city  street 
Through  all  the  summer's  fervid  heat ; 
Ail  ye  tired  sons  of  gold  and  gain, 
Turn  from  your  weary  tasks  of  j)ain, 
And  haste  to  wood,  and  bay,  and  stream, 
Where  health,  and  joy,  and  sunshine  beam 


IPart    Scconb. 


FRESH-WATER    FISHING 

WITH 

FLY    AND    BAIT. 


I 


! 


% 


CHAPTEII  I. 

THE  POETRY  OF  ANGLING. 
SECTION  FIRST. 


"The  patient  angler  threads  the  wind- 
ing brooiv, 
Tempting  the  dainty  trout  with  gilded 

bait ; 
And  ever  and  anon,  as  fleecy  clouds 
Pass  o'er  the  sun,  the  fish  voracious 

darts 
From  the  cool  shadows  of  some  mossy 

bank. 
Swallows  the  bait  with  one  convulsive 

acti 
And  learns  too  late  that  death  was  at 

the  feast ; 
AVhile  the  glad  sportsman  feels  the 

sudden  jerk. 
And  plays  his  victim  with  extended 

line, 
Swiftly  he  darts,  and  tlirougii  the  glit- 
tering rings 
The  silken  line  is  drawn  with  ringing 

sound, 
Till,  wearied  out  with  struggling  that 

but  serves 
To  drive  the  barbed  weapon  deeper 

still, 
lie  seeks  his  quiet  shelter  'neath  the 

bank. 
And  thence  in  triumph  to  tlie  shore  is 

borne, 
A  prize  that  well  rewards  a  day  of 
toil." 


The  question  lias  been  discussed  by  hundreds  of  enlight- 
ened minds,  from  King  Leopold  to  Bill  Kromer— from  men 
highest  in  the  sciences  and  most  exalted  in  the  state,  to  the 
lowest  in  worldly  means  and  position,  as  to  who  can  ade 


I 


1 


1 


142 


Fishing  in  American  Watkrs. 


quately  describe  the  pleasures  that  surround  the  ano-lerV 
The  most  compendious,  truthful,  and  summary  is  contained 
in  the  poetical  exclamation  of  O.  W.  Holmes  in  the  followim; 
couplet :  ■  *^ 

"Oh !  what  are  the  treasures  we  perisli  to  win, 
To  the  first  little  niimiow  we  caught  with  a  pin!" 

But  who  can  catalogue  the  pleasures  Avhich  cluster  around 
the  angler's  pursuit  ?    lie  pursues  his  avocations  amid  scenc^s 
«>f  beauty.     "It  is  he  who  follows  the  windings  of  the  silver 
river,  and  becomes  acquahited  with  its  course.     He  Knows 
the  joyous  leaps  it  takes  down  the  bold  cascade,  and  how  it 
bubbles  rejoicingly  in  its  career  over  the  rapids.     He  knows 
the  solitude  of  its  silent  depths,  and  the  brilliancy  of  its  shal- 
lows.    He  IS  confined  to  no  season.     He  can  salute  Nature 
when  she  laughs  with  the  budding  flowers,  and  when  her 
bi-eatluis  the  glorious  breath  of  spring.     The  rustling  sedges 
make  music  in  his  ear  when  the  mist  has  rolled  off  the  sJu- 
tace  of  the  water,  or  the  dew  been  kissed  from  the  grass  bv 
the  sun's  rays."    The  lark  sings  for  him,  and  robin  red-breast; 
with  the  brown  thrush  and  jolly  bobolink,  pipe  and  chirp 
their  mellifluous  notes  along  his  path.     The  gorgeou.'  king- 
iisher  heeds  him  not,  and  the  meadow-hen  seldom  moves  from 
her  nest  as  he  passes.     The  storm  and  the  tempest  scarcely 
Innder  his  sport.     He  throws  the  line  when  ruddy  Autumn 
gilds  the  western  heavens,  and  the  fruit  of  the  year  hangs 
heavy  on  the  bough,  or  waves  in  golden  abundance  on  the 
uplands     Even  stern  Winter  does  not  forbid  him  his  enjov- 
inent.    If  he  cares  to  pursue  his  favorite  pastime,  he  may  do 
so  equally  when  the  tall  bulrushes,  wavy  reeds,  and  chestnuts 
••attle  with  December's  winds,  as  when  the  marsh  mario-old 
opens  its  big  yellow  eyes  on  an  April  day,  or  the  birds  of  all 
song  size,  and  feather  congregate  along  the  streams,  and  teter 
on  the  sprays  that  kiss  the  ripples,  while  they  chirp  and  ca- 
vort with  their  mates  on  yonder  side  the  stream.     The  au- 
tumn trolling  season  over,  the  angler  begins  to  think  of  the 
sprmgmg  into  life  of  all  nature,  when  again  the  fro-s  hotxm 


An'jk^lity  of  I'liE  Gentle  Akt. 


14a 


to  croak,  the  trout  to  louj),  the  Avild  geese  to  honk,  the  kine 
to  low,  {Uicl  muLorial  nature  gusJiingly  bursts  forth  into  new 
hfe  luid  loveliness.  If  he  is  an  ardent  sportsman,  the  whole 
year  is  before  him.  When  the  trout  in  spring,  the  salmon  in 
summer,  the  .,trij)ed  1)ass  in  early  autumn,  and  the  trolling 
for  blucfish,  Spanish  mackerel,  cero,  and  bonetta  wind  up  the 
falling  season,  he  may  hie  to  the  Carolinas  and  Florida,  where 
the  oranges,  amid  labyrinths  of  flcnvers,  greet  his  senses,  and 
there  troll  for  black  bass  and  angle  for  bream  to  his  heart's 
content. 

"It  was  always  so  in  the  infancy  of  mankind;  the  finny 
tribes  were  pursued  by  a  primitive  i)eople  with  as  much  ar- 
dor as  they  are  by  civilized  men  at  the  present  time.     Sav- 
age and  cultivated  nations  equally  followed,  either  as  a  busi- 
ness or  as  a  pastime,  the  occupation  of  capturing  fish  with 
a  line  and  hook,  with  or  without  a  rod.     We  find  its  praises 
celebrated  in  ancient  poetry,  and  its  memory  embalmed  in 
holy  writ."    The  rudest  appliances  of  a  savage  life  have  been 
used  to  aid  the  angler  at  his  delightful  task,  and  science  has 
not   disdained  to   aid  the   modern  fisherman  in  his   sport. 
There  are  tribes  who  yet  fashion  fish-hooks  out  of  human  jaw- 
bones, and  the  Saxons  managed  to  snare  fish  Avith  hooks 
ibrmed  of  flint.    Indeed,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  have  followed 
angling  with  an  energy  and  a  zest  far  beyond  any  other  na- 
tion, not  excepting  the  Chinese,  whose  great  perseverance  is 
ilevoted  rather  to  cultivate  fishes  than  insnare  them.  '  We 
know  the  iidiabitants  of  tlie  British  Isles  pursued  it  as  a  prof- 
itable occupation  in  remote  times,  and  we  have  it  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  venerable  Bede  that  the  people  of  Sussex  wen^ 
at  one  time  preserved  fi-om  fiimine  by  being  taught  by  Wil- 
fred to  catch  fish.     Among  the  earliest  printed  books  is  on<' 
on  fishing,  by  Dame  Juliana  Berners  or  Barnes,  prioress  of 
the  nunnery  of  Sojiwoll,  near  St.  Alban's.     This  book  wa- 
printed  in  1496.     The  old  lady  shows  that  if  ^port  fails  the 
ambitious  angler,  his  time  is  not  spent  in  vain,  for  has  he  not, 
"atte  the  leest,  his  holsom  walke,  and  merry  at  his  ease  a' 


144 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Watp:r8. 


sweto  ayre  of  the  swoto  sauvouic  of  the  meede  flowres,  that 
makyth  liim  hungry;  he  hereth  the  melodyous  armony  of 
fowlos ;  lie  sceth  tlic  young  swannes,  hcerons,  ducks,  cotes, 
and  many  other  fowles  with  theyr  brodes ;  whychc  me  sem- 
yth  better  than  all  the  noyse  of  houndys,  the  blastes  of 
hornys,  and  the  scrye  of  fowlis,  that  hunters,  frunkeners,  and 
fowlers  do  make.  And,"  says  the  good  old  lady,  "if  the  an- 
gler take  fysshe,  surely  their  is  no  man  merier  than  he  is  in 
his  spyryte." 

Angling,  in  modern  times,  is  the  most  I'efined  of  all  field- 
sports.  If  the  angler  take  a  fish,  he  knows  that  it  is  only  one 
of  a  spawn  of  from  a  thousand  to  many  hundred  thousands, 
and  that  all  shoals  which  can,  prey  on  one  another.  Not  only 
so,  but  the  old  prey  on  their  own  offspring ;  and  from  the 
time  when  the  mother  fish  appears  in  the  spawning-pools, 
there  are  several  milt  fish  waiting  to  gorge  themselves  with 
the  ova/  and  so,  during  all  stages  of  fishhood,  the  larger  eat 
the  lesser  ones,  and — as  cold-blooded  animals — they  can  not 
be  susceptible  to  an  acute  sense  of  pain.  These  truths  can 
not  be  said  in  favor  of  killing  a  land  animal,  whose  annual 
j)rocreative  increase  never  amounts  to  a  tithe  of  any  individ- 
ual of  the  oviimrous  fishes. 

The  innocence  of  angling  is  therefore  a  feature  which  has 

commended  it  to  the  good  of  all  ages.     "  When  bank  and 

meadow  lie  starred  and  enameled  with  flowers;  when  the 

trill  of  the  song-bird  issues  from  every  thorn ;  when  all  sounds 

and  all  prospects  are  joyous  and  exhilarating,  and  the  cloud 

itself,  sleeping  high  in  the  arch  of  heaven,  is  as  the  honored 

presence  of  some  benevolent  watcher ;"  with  the  soul  toned 

by  the  sights,  sounds,  and  exercise  into  a  state  of  harmony 

with  all  nature,  then  the  angler  realizes  that  the  precious  gift 

he  enjoys  is 

"  One  of  the  spirits  unwithdrawn, 
That,  erst  the  fall,  were  charged  to  minister 
To  the  earth's  gladness,  and  continually, 
Out  of  their  ample  and  unfailing  liorns, 
To  pre-endow  the  advancing  tracks  of  men. " 


TiiK  C11ABM8  OF  Angling.  *  145 

Modem  improvements  in  anglers'  irpplements,  and  recent 
inventions  m  lures  to  captivate  by  trolling,  have  rendered 
the  angler  of  to-day  very  different  from  the  ancient  dreamy 
hshing  philosopher.     Especially  is  the  difference  from  the 
ancient   angler-as  portrayed  by  good  Izaak  Walton-ob- 
servable in  the  United  States  of  America,  where  an  angler  i« 
expected  to  scull  a  boat  with  alacrity  and  pull  an  oar  grace- 
fully, to  sail  a  boat  and  man  a  pair  of  trolling-lines,  to  brave 
the  ocean's  dashing  surf  and  spray,  and,  clad  in  sailor's  garb 
of  water-proof  material,  stand  on  the  rocks  of  the  shore  and 
cast  menhaden  bait  for  striped  bass,  and  play  large  fish  from 
a  stand  where  the  dashing  waves  threaten  continually  to 
wash  him  off.  ^ 

The  art  of  angling  has  become  so  rich  in  variety  of  imple- 
ments, so  varied  in  scenes,  so  replete  with  all  the  elements 
for  exercise-as  well  for  the  student  as  for  the  man  of  action 
—as  to  render  it  a  recreation  entirely  satisfactory  to  its  dis- 
ciples, who  believe  that 

"All  pleasures  but  the  angler's  bring 
I'  th'  tail  repentance  like  a  sting." 

Men  of  cultivation  and  natural  gentleness  of  disposition 
have  frequently  l,een  known  to  indulge  in  the  chase,  and  fol- 
ow  a  well-trained  dog  with  pleasure,  though  they  are  often 
known  to  forego  these  for  angling;  but  there  was  never  a 
true  angler  known  to  exchange  his  gentle  wand,  his  quiet, 
rambles  among  the  most  charming  haunts  of  nature,  for  any 
other  means  of  recreation. 

"  Bear  lightly  on  th«ir  foreheads,  Time! 

Strew  roses  on  their  way ; 
The  young  in  heart,  however  old, 

That  prize  the  present  day. 
"  I  love  to  see  a  man  forget 

His  blood  is  growing  cold. 
And  leap,  or  swim,  or  gather  flowers, 

Oblivious  of  his  gold, 
And  mix  with  children  in  their  sport. 

Nor  think  that  he  is  old. 

K 


146 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


"  I  love  to  see  the  man  .of  care 
Taka  pleasure  in  a  toy ; 

I  love  to  see  him  row  or  ride, 
And  tread  the  grass  with  joy, 

Or  throw  the  circling  salmon  fly 
As  lusty  as  a  boy. 

"The  road  of  life  is  hard  enough, 

Bestrewn  with  slag  and  thorn  ; 

I  would  not  mock  the  simplest  joy 
That  made  it  less  forlorn, 

But  fill  its  evening  path  with  flowers 
As  fresh  as  those  of  morn." 


h 


SECTION  SECOND. 

THE     BROOK     TROUT. 

Where  the  tangled  willowy  thickets  lave 
Their  drooping  tassels  within  the  wave. 
There  lies  a  deep  and  darkened  pool. 
Whose  waters  are  crystal  clear  and  cool. 
It  is  fed  by  many  a  gurgling  fount. 
That  trickles  from  upland  pasture  and  mount, 
And  when  the  deep  shadows  fall  dense  and  dim, 
The  speckled  trout  delight  to  swim. 

The  illustration  on  the  opjiositc  page  is  a  copy  of  a  trout 
drawn  by  Walter  M.  Brackett,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  as  a  contribu- 
tion to  this  work.  Of  his  gifts  and  inspirations,  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  whether  he  draws  trout  best  with  a  fly-rod  or  a  pen- 
cil. He  is  authority  for  either,  and  in  painting  fishes  has  no 
superior. 

This  book — not  being  especially  devoted  to  ichthyology — 
could  scarcely  be  improved  by  giving  the  genus  and  family 
of  each  separate  fish  of  which  it  treats ;  but  as  the  heading 
indicates  that  the  brook  trout  belongs  to  the  gemis  Salmo,  I 
will  add  that  it  is  still  questionable  with  some  ichthyologists 
whether  the  trout  is  not  the  head  of  the  genus,  and  the  sal- 
mon belongs  to  the  genus  Trutta,  or  the  trout  is  distinct  from 
the  genus  Salmo.  Pliny  confounded  them,  and  the  different 
members  of  the  genus  Salmo  were  never  assigned  their  posi- 
tion by  the  aid  of  science  until  within  the  present  century. 

The  scales  of  the  trout  are  imperceptible  to  tiie  naked  eye; 


i 


A  Thing  of  jJii^vuTv 


wiTiioi-T  Alloy. 


147 


The  JJi,„„„  'Ji,uuT.-i„/,„„}i„„„„;,.^. 

allits  fin,  are  soft-rayea  except  the  second  dorsal  which  is 

adjose;  ats  caudal  fin,  or  tail,  is  nearly  strai.i:t  I'crosslhe 

nd,  contradistinguished  from  the  otherLihe's  oHl   7„t 

olo.ed,  and  of  all  the  shades  between  pinic  and  white  the 

al low-colored  trout  is  preferred  for  perfection  of  ^«„      The 

".oat  laminates  u>  flakes,  and,  when  i,i  best  condition    hei^is 

Tiou    taken  in  streams  which  empty  into  tidewaters  ai^ 
usually  in  best  condition,  because  their  food  consists  of  mcT 
spearing  shrimp,  herring  roe,  rocs  of  other  fishes  and  S' 
alev,ns,,„  addition  to  their  <lcs.erls  of  flies  to  rend  r  them 
more  delicate,  to  say  nothing  of  ground  bait  driven  dow    th" 
ream  by  Ireshets,  and  from  which  our  Bean  Brumm™  of 
l.e  estuary  turn  aside  their  beautiful  noses.    Streams  backed 
Lmlinc  tides  .are  not  often  impregnated  by  the  .liMs^l^ 

ned<Wn  with  the  flood,  or  by  any  foreign  sLtanctrienel 
New  Yorkers  regard  Long  Island  trout  as  the  best,  whi  e  Bos 

fom.ans  consider  the  Marshfield  trout  as  the  ,^e  pluluflZ 

Though  I  .accord  a  preference  to  trout  which  havnceessTo 

..de-waters,  those  of  mountain  streams  arc  better  than  W 

,>o..d  trout.     Writers  upon  angling  mention  many  fli^fe^ 

.  the  brook  trout ;  there  are  doubtless  very  many  Lt  ZZ 

I  ...ted  States  I  know  of  but  few.    A  marked  pLdiarkvi! 

obspival.le  m  tho  tmnt  nf  ti,    t-    ^  Peculiarity  is 

-  a.-e       the  tiout  of  the  Lmbagog  range  of  lakes  and 


:; 


1.1 


148 


Fisiimo  IN  American  Waters. 


i 


rivers,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  whose  fins  are  bordered  on  one 
side  with  a  ray  of  pure  white;  but  I  know  of  none  which 
are  not  definable  as  Salmo  fontinalis,  differing  only  in  quali- 
ty and  unimportant  superficial  marks,  generally  caused  by 
the  distinctive  properties  of  the  waters  which  each  family  in- 
habits. Thus  the  black-mouthed  trout  of  the  swampy  forest 
would  soon  become  assimilated  to  the  trout  of  the  saline  es- 
tuaries were  they  transported  thither.  Upon  this  subject 
permit  me  to  quote  from  Thomas  Tod  Stoddart,  a  very  high 
authority : 

"  Of  the  food  and  habits  of  trout  I  have  said  comparative- 
ly little ;  nor  have  I  called  direct  attention  to  what  may  be 
termed  the  cross-breeds,  in  coi-tradistinction  to  the  true  or 
original  breed  peculiar  to  each  stream  or  lake.  *  *  *  * 
I  may  notice  that  the  cross-breeds  to  which  I  refer  are  simply 
those  which  have  their  origin  in  the  difierent  varieties  of  the 
common  trout  brought  into  contact  with  each  other  at  the 
breeding  season,  and  do  not  implicate  the  questionable  prod- 
uce, or  mule  breed,  arising  from  any  haphazard  connection  be- 
tween the /areo  and  bull  trout,  or  whitling,  a  connection  al- 
together discountenanced  by  nature,  and  not  likely  to  take 
place.  I  may  also  remark  that,  although  cross  varieties  may 
for  a  season,  or  term  of  seasons,,  rival  in  number  the  true 
breed  belonging  to  this  or  that  stream,  and  threaten  to  ex- 
tinguish it  altogether,  yet  there  is  no  fear  or  likelihood  of 
such  a  result,  the  peculiar  nature  and  qualities  of  the  water, 
aided  by  the  remaining  original  stock,  always  tending  to  re- 
instate the  breed."  This  is  merely  reasserting  that  the  qual- 
ities of  the  loater  and/eec?  will  govern  and  regulate  the  color 
and  quality  of  all  trout  of  the  same  breed,  whether /on^ma^/s 
ox'fario. 

The  speckled  beauty  known  as  the  brook  trout  has  been 
an  exhaustless  theme  for  pastoral  poets  of  all  ages.  It  has 
afforded  recreation  for  thousands  of  years  to  most  of  the  lov- 
ers of  nature  throughout  the  temperate  zone  of  the  northern 
hemispheres.     The  old  and  young,  the  learned  and  ignorant. 


Tbout-fishino  a  Fine  Akt.  149 

the  poor  and  nch-all  classes,  ages,  and  conditions,  have  en- 

Zc  .a':  '^T/^'f"'  '"'  "■■""•  ''  P°-""y  -"^  '"■■'" 
Mlvinv  ""^'^■''"l*™  of  both  mind  and  body  to  success- 
fully .nvent  and  present  the  lures  most  captivating  to  it  than 

ISi: f   ™t™'"  ^'''-     ^""""S"  ">e  bro'k  troutt 
p.obably  the  most  numerous  of  all  the  game  fishes,  and  sought 
to.  by  the  greatest  number  of  conten.plative  philosophers 
yet     may  be  angled  for  with  the  commonest  tackle,  and  wit 

fisW  7  '™"''  '=■"  ^y  ">«  ^'''»  "'""y  "feam,  or  it  may  be 
fished  for  w,th  a  very  elaborate  apparatus,  and  in  either  case 
afford  genuine  sport. 

Tl^  common  trout  is  the  standard  sport  of  the  enthusiastic 
..ngler.  In  many  countries  the  trout  and  salmon  are  the  only 
varieties  of  game  fishes  which  interest  the  angler;  and  while 
salmon-flshmg  may  be  justly  regarded  as  the  highest  branch 
of  fresh-water  sport,  yet  it  has  been  justly  said  by  Francis 
Francis  that  "a  good  trout-flsher  will  easily  become  an  ex- 
pert at  salmon-fishing;  but  a  very  respectable  practitioner 
with  the  salmon-rod  w.ll  often  have  all  his  schooling  to  do 
afresh,  should  he  descend  to  trout-flshing,  before  he  can  take 
rank  as  a  master  of  the  art." 

But  it  is  left  to  the  American  angler  to  enjoy  those  numer- 
ous and  various  resources  of  sport  unknown  to  the  European. 
Our  black  bass  are  nearly  as  high  game  as  the  salmon,  while 
some  thmk  the  striped  bass  higher,  not  to  name  the  other  va- 
neties  ot  game  for  the  rod  and  the  troll,  which  shoal  in  myr- 
iads a  ong  our  coasts,  and  in  the  estuaries  o£  innumerable  riv- 
ers debouching  in  salt  waters. 

After  enumerating  the  fascinations  of  all  other  fishes  the 
mind  settles  in  pleasurable  contemplation  of  the  brook  trout 
Ills  capture  is  so  delicate,  and  yet  so  artistic.  Even  the  rus^ 
tic  IS  taught  refinement  of  address  by  following  a  trout  stream 
with  his  ash  wand.  Trouting  is  an  abiding  and  universal 
source  of  pleasure  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men  and 
boys-ay,  and  of  ladies  also.  It  must  therefore  be  invested 
with  a  great  variety  of  elements  intended  to  create  refined 


150 


Fishing  m  American  Waters. 


I 


emotions  of  pleasure  to  the  best  minds ;  and  while  much  of 
it  is  due  to  the  incomparable  beauty  and  superior  qualities  of 
the  fish,  yet  his  habits  and  attributes  command  unmixed  ad- 
miration. "  He  is  an  intellectual  kind  of  creature,  and  has 
evidently  a  will  of  his  own.  He  looks  sagacious  and  intelli- 
gent— sedulously  avoids  thick,  troubled,  and  muddy  waters 
— prefers  the  clear  spring  stream — displays  an  ardent  ambi- 
tion to  explore  streams  to  their  source — is  quick,  vigorous, 
and  elegant  in  his  movements — likes  to  have  the  exclusive 
command  of  the  stream — keeps  up  a  rigid  system  of  order 
and  discipline  in  the  little  community  of  which  he  is  a  mem- 
ber— exhibits  a  remarkable  degree  of  nicety  and  fastidious- 
ness about  his  food — is  comparatively  free  from  vulgar,  low, 
and  groveling  habits — entices  his  pursuer  into  the  loveliest 
scenes  of  Nature's  domains — calls  forth  from  man  his  utmost 
ingenuity  and  skill — and,  in  a  word,  in  every  stage  of  his  ex- 
istence preserves  a  dignified  demeanor,  unattainable  by  any 
other  living  occupant  of  the  streams. 

"While  these  may  be  styled  his  social  and  intellectual 
qualities,  his  physical  constitution  is  equally  entitled  to  our 
respectful  consideration.  He  discloses  a  prepossessing  and 
fascinating  figure,  moulded  in  strict  conformity  with  most 
refined  principles  of  symmetrical  proportion,  sparkles  in  all 
the  gorgeous  colors  of  the  rainbow,  and  occupies  a  distin- 
guished position  in  the  important  science  of  gastronomy." 

Reasons  which  combine  to  establish  so  high  an  estimate  in 
the  regard  of  anglers  are  connected  with  the  idea  that  the 
amber  beauty  is  gifted  with  tnind^  for  in  every  thmg  which 
claims  human  attention,  mind,  real  or  imaginary,  in  the  object 
is  necessary  to  attract  our  serious  notice  and  to  secure  our 
lasting  esteem. 

Once  nearly  every  stream  in  the  Middle,  Northern,  and 
Eastern  States  teemed  with  both  trout  and  salmon.  The 
salmon  have  been  driven  away,  and,  had  not  anglers  inter- 
fered to  save  the  trout,  the  luxury  would  now  only  be  known 
from  bookp  and  the  stories  of  th.i^  oldest  inhabitants.     A«  it 


Make  effective  Game-laws.  151 

is,  the  trout  streams  have  been  so  depleted  and  thinned  of 
their  most  attractive  beauty  that  restocking  by  artificial 
means  has  been  found  necessary  as  a  last  resort. 

Before  addressing  myself  to  the  task  of  describing  the  ar- 
tistic means  for  capturing  this  beauty  of  the  brook,  it  should 
be  known  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  take  trout  in  the  State  of 
New  York  by  any  other  means  than  with  the  angle  in  fly  and 
bait  fishings.     Considering  the  diminished  numbers  in  our 
best  streams,  and  the  swift-growing  density  of  the  population 
throughout  the  North,  it  is  a  question  of  importance  whether 
this  h^    should  not  be  adopted  by  all  the  states  north  and 
east.     Ihe  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  are  a  peculiar 
people  in  some  things,  and  in  no  one  element  is  this  more 
patent  than  in  their  running  on  the  last  idea,  to  the  disregard 
of  all  others.     This  is  eminontly  so  in  artificial  fish-culture 
There  are  many  waters  which  require  protection  only  to  ren- 
der the  increase  of  trout  abundant ;  but  instead  of  protecting 
the  waters  by  proper  legal  enactments,  and  faithfully  carry- 
ing them  out,  some  states  leave  the  waters  to  the  mercy  of 
nets  and  spears.     They  appropriate  sums  of  money  for  prop- 
agating trout,  and  while  the  fish-culturist  is  hatching  trout 
on  the  middle  of  a  stream,  the  mouth  is  being  netted,  and  the 
spawning-grounds  thinned  with  the  spear.     This  is  "feeding 
at  the  spigot  and  leaking  at  the  bung." 
.   Game-laws  should  be  enacted  in  each  state  establishino-  the 
fence  or  close  seasons  for  game  fish  and  game  animals,'thus 
protecting  them  while  with  young,  while  hatching,  and  until 
they  have  recovered  and  fattened  sufiiciently  for  the  table 
The  legal  season  for  taking  trout  in  the  State  of  New  York 
^8  from  March  until  October,  leaving  six  months  of  the  year 
wherein  it  is  unlawful  to  take  trout  by  any  means.     It  would 
be  well  if  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  could  unite  upon 
a  close  season,  as  it  would  assist  to  prevent  poaching.     Al- 
though I  have  no  key  to  fit  the  humor  of  the  selfish  proprie- 
tor who  would  begrudge  the  laboring  man  his  snatch  of  pleas- 
ure at  this  universal  and  fiivorite  pastime,  or  limit  him  to 


.r       .a 


152 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


xl    I'OACUEK, 


hours  in  a  day's  fishing,  where- 
by lie  might  add  a  real  zest  in 
the  way  of  luxurious  variety  to 
his  eveiy-day  fare,  yet  I  would 
second  all  efforts  to  thwart  the 
poacher,  who  robs  the  streams 
of  their  life  and  beauty  to  sell, 
when  these  waters  are  be- 
queathed to  the  poor  as  well 
as  to  the  rich  as  a  health-giv- 
ing blessing. 


"  Bill  Blossom  was  a  nice  young  man, 
And  drove  the  Bury  eoacli ; 
But  bad  companions  were  his  bane, 
And  egged  him  on  to  poach. 

"  Once,  going  to  his  usual  haunts, 

Old  Cheshire  laid  his  plots  ;  » 

He  got  entrapped  by  legal  Berks, 

And  lost  his  life  in  Notts." — Hood, 

The  poacher  is  an  unmitigated  scamp  wherever  found.  On 
Long  Island, he  robs  the  streams  by  night  with  fine  silken 
nets,  which  he  conceals  in  a  pocket  or  in  the  crown  of  his  hat 
(if  he  have  one),  and,  knowing  all  the  by  paths  of  the  island 
as  they  meander  among  the  net-work  formed  of  dwarf  pine 
and  scrub  oak,  he  approaches  a  trout  stream  after  midnight. 
There  are  usually  two  poachers  in  company.  They  set  the 
net  across  a  narrow  place  in  the  stream,  and  while  one  at- 
tends to  it,  the  other  drives  in  the  trout.  The  meshes  of  the 
net  are  so  small  that  a  two-ounce  trout  can  not  escape.  Before 
daylight  the  poachers  are  back  at  their  wretched  homes,  and 
those  who  wink  at  the  crime  purchase  the  fish,  and  send  them 
to  the  New  York  markets.  The  fish  being  in  season,  no  ques- 
tions are  asked.  It  is  difficult  to  detect  poachers  on  the  isl- 
and, because  proprietors  of  real  estate  and  hotel-keepers  are 
afraid  to  inform  against  these  desperadoes,  lest  they  should, 
in  revenge,  add  arson  to  poaching. 

There  is  not  withhi  any  settled  portion  of  the  United  States 


PoAcriERs  Rob  all  Classes.  153 

,>a  atively  so  numerous  and  productive  as  they  are  through- 

^ny  d„-eet,oa  without  crossing  a  trout  stream,  whether  from 

nXTo,  :'TV"  '™*-P'^»-  "-e  south' side,  Jr  fZ 
«cwto»n  to  Greenport  on  the  north  side;  and  when  taliin.. 
mto  account  the  necessity  for  a  kind  of  rec  eatior^which  si  ",1 

who  are  pent  up  m  squares  of  brick  and  mortar,  and  engaged 

arslr  2  "7"^"°"^' "  '^  ""P°-^'«  ">  -«-te  if  lol 

fee  airv^n,  :»"  T'''"""  ^'''^'''  "^il"  it  is  sufficiently 
tree,  airy,  and  attractive  to  inflate  the  lungs,  jog  the  biliarv 

organs,  and  unbend  the  mind,  is  not  so  dilc'u  tl  plsu  Z 
to  prevent  the  most  delicate  in  p^j^eyue  from  cnLin„  iT 
The  va  ue  of  the  Long  Island  trout  streams  to  New  iork  Ci  t 
'ZtT'f  "1  ™^  "''"'"^  ''  approaehabilt  ?2 

above  price  How  deep  must  therefore  be  the  turpitude  of 
the  c  ime  of  that  vagrant  class  of  va<rabonds  who  reckless^ 
"ob  the  streams  of  their  life,  beau  .  .„d  means  of  recreate" 
to  the  overworked  citizen  who  depends  on  angling  instead 
of  physic  for  restoring  his  waning  health  of  body  and  decreas 
mg  vigor  of  mind  ! 

Streams  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut,  and  those  west 
of  the  Hudson  to  the  Delaware  Rivers,  and  far  beyond  in  both 
this  state  and  Pennsylvania,  contain  trout,  and  many  of  them 
are  well  stocked.    Indeed,  it  would  bo  difficult  to  fln/a  st  earn 
within  a  radius  of  a  hundred  miles  from  the  city  of  New 
York  which  has  not  more  or  less  trout  in  it.    The  papei-milk 
.-ailroads,  bleaehing-iields,  chemicals  of  acids  and  gases,  lim; 
manures,  and  numerous  kinds  of  manufactories  which  cast' 
their  choking  and  poisonous  debris  and  flltr.ations  into  the 
streams,  have  not  proved  suflicient  to  depopulate  them  of 
their  speckled  beauties ;  and  were  it  not  for  tie  poacher,  who 
»  ops  not  at  nets  spears,  snares  of  singular  device,  killiii;  the 
■  lout  by  Inning  the  streams  and  poisoning  them  with  ooculm 


■I 


154 


Fishing  in  American  Wateks. 


indicus,  they  would  still  be  so  numerous  as  to  require  noth- 
ing toward  propagation  but  protection.  Want  of  moral  rec- 
titude, indolence,  and  greed  make  up  the  modest  sum  total 
of  a  poacher's  character;  and  the  sooner  the  class  is  forced  to 
work'  for  the  state  the  better,  therefore  our  legislators  will 
please  take  note  of  the  true  penalty  for  poaching. 

SECTION  THIRD. 

FLY-FISHING   FOB  TROUT, 

"Thin,  o'er  the  wave,  the  quivering  insects  skim, 
And  faintly  dip  their  pinions  on  its  brim. 
Winter  its  power  has  not  yet  resigned. 
And  yet,  I  fear,  the  weather  is  unkind. 
But  there,  an  answer  to  that  doubt  receive— 
A  gallant  trout !— behold  it,  and  believe." 

Here  we  see  the  fly-fisher  wading  a  brook  while  it  rains, 
with  shoulders  protected  by  a  water-proof  cape,  and  extremi- 
ties clad  in  India-rubber  boots,  with  silk  rubber  attached  and 
extenaing  up  to  the  thighs,  thus  rendering  the  toggery  light, 
and  so  impervious  as  to  keep  the  shoulders  and  feet  of^the' 
angler  dry.  The  boy  with  rolled-up  trousers  represents  the 
ancient  angler.  He  quietly  contemplates  and  fishes  in  a 
drenching  rain,  taking  eels,  catfish,  and  chubs  in  the  pool  be- 
low the  beaver-dam,  never  dreaming  of  a  trout,  when  an  ap- 
parition wading  the  stream  surprises  him  as  the  fly-fisher 
casts  his  line,  armed  wiih  artificial  flies,  quite  over  his  pole, 
and  hooks  a  trout  to  his  great  astonishment. 

Fly-fishing  is  more  indolent  and  elegant  than  bait-fishing. 
From  the  streams  on  the  Styrian  Alps,  eastward  over  Hun- 
gary, and  westward  over  all  the  vast  empire  of  intellectual 
man,  wherever  the  lands  are  divided  by  the  ornamental  tra- 
cery of  trout  streams,  even  to  the  mildly  sublime  Pacific 
Ocean,  fly-fishing  is  regarded  as  an  elegant  accomplishment. 
To  cast  a  fly  gracefully,  so  that  it  will  fall  in  the  right  place 
like  a  snow-flake,  or  light  like  a  winged  insect,  requires  prac- 
tice. The  beginner  should  not  attempt  to  cast  too  long  a 
line.     Let  him  first  try  to  throw  a  line  as  long  as  his  rod,  say 


Ctuaed  against  a  Slack-line  Cast. 


155 


Fly-fishing  fob  Thout 


twelve  feet  of  line;  then  increase  the  length  as  he  learns  to 
oast  It,  so  that  it  will  lie  straight  on  the  ^ater  and  a   ront 
m  attempting  to  taste,  will  be  sure  to  hook  hin  se"f  beea,  se 
there  ,s  no  slack  line.     This  is  important;  for  i f  the    rou 
s  nkes  at  a  fly  on  a  slack  line,  he  at  once  b  comes  disgn  te< 
at  so  lame  an  effort  to  deceive,  and  the  slack-line  flshT  W 
never  rece,ve  a  second  visit  from  him,      Bnt  if  yon     af 
u  straight  hne,  and  the  trout  misses  th.  fly,  he  wUl  com 


156 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


again,  sometimes  as  many  as  four  times,  before  he  fastens. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  line  be  so  straight  that  a  slight  touch 
will  be  felt  by  the  angler,  and  that  a  responsive  jerk  at  the 
top  of  the  rod  will  be  sure  to  fasten  the  fish.  But  if  the  line 
is  slack,  and  the  trout  happens  to  get  hooked,  he  will  be  like- 
ly to  disgorge  before  the  angler  has  time  to  strike.  Do  not 
be  in  a  hurry  to  lay  out  more  line  than  you  can  cast  straight 
from  the  tip  of  your  rod  to  your  stretcher-fly.  Some  good' 
fly-fishers  prefer  to  cast  a  short  line,  because  it  is  so  much 
easier  for  them  to  hook  their  fish  and  play  him.  Especially 
is  this  the  case  when  tro  ^  are  plenty.  On  Long  Island  they 
are  educated ;  but  even  tnere  do  not  strain  vour  nerves  and 
muscles  to  make  a  wide  cast.  Exjjerience  is  the  only  teach- 
er who  will  confer  the  perfection  of  casting. 

So  soon  as  the  angler  learns  to  lay  out  thirty  feet  of  line 
straight,  without  a  bend  from  the  tip  of  his  rod,  he  may  count 
himself  a  fly-fisher ;  and  as  he  continues  to  practice  for  im- 
proving in  the  elegance  of  his  casting,  he  will  naturally  ac- 
quire the  habit,  so  that  fifty  or  sixty  feet  casts  will  be  done 
with  perfect  ease,  grace,  and  precision.  Over-hand  and  under 
casts  will  be  his  next  practice,  in  order  to  succeed  in  wading 
a  stream  overhang  with  willows  or  alders,  or  margined  with 
large  trees  whose  wide  projecting  branches  warn  the  angler 
to  beware  lest  he  cast  too  high. 

Many  simple  swils  suppose  angling  an  indolent  pastime ; 
and  Johnson's  plagiarism  from  a  Greek  author  of  "  a  stick 
and  a  string,  with  a  fool  at  one  end  and  a  wonn  at  the  oth- 
er," helped  to  fix  in  the  minds  of  the  ignorant  the  impression 
which  .the  stolen  aphorism  was  intended  to  convey.  Such 
vulgar  witticisms  may  please  the  splenetic;  they  only  dis- 
gust liberal-minded  men. 

A  word  more  about  the  costume  of  our  model  angler.  The 
color  of  the  dress  should  either  be  green,  to  blend  with  the 
foliage,  or  gra^/f.  to  harmonize  with  the  shade  of  the  rocks. 
Wading  boots,  with  rubbered  silk  extensions,  are  the  lightest 
and  best,  except,  perhaps,  the  Scotch  wading  stockings,  of 


Tecutino  on  Long  Island.  157 

quite  recent  invention,  and  imported  by  our  principal  fishing- 
tackle  houses.  A  cape  of  water-proof  silk  may  be  carried  hi 
the  pocket,  and  put  on  as  a  protection  to  tha  shoulders  in 
case  of  a  shower,  as  it  is  not  too  warm  and  does  not  impede 
casting.  ^ 

Trouting  on  Long  Island  is  the  most  artistic  angling  that 
1  have  ever  seen  practiced,  either  in  Europe  or  America     The 
trout  there  appear  to  have  learned  to  detect  many  of  the  an- 
gler  8  artifices.     Fly-fishing  is  there  practiced  near  the  estu- 
aries of  streams,  where  they  are  influenced  by  the  tides,  so 
that  m  flood  tide  the  fisher  begins  below  and  casts  along  as 
the  tide  makes,  as  far  up  the  stream  as  the  trout  feed  •  and 
when  the  tide  turns,  the  angler  fishes  along  down  with  the 
tide  and  the  feeding  fish.     There  being  little  protection  to 
veil  the  angler  from  the  tenants  of  the  stream,  it  is  necessary 
that  he  keep  far  back  from  the  bank,  which  necessitates  lon^ 
■    casts,  and  frequently  the  first  intimation  which  the  angler 
receives  of  a  bite  is  the  gushing  and  slapping  rise  of  the  fish 
and  the  tremulously  nervous  resistance  at  the  end  of  his  line  • 
then  approaches  the  play  and  the  contest,  when  li<.ht-but 
finely-constructed-tackle  tells.     Deftly  and  gingerfy  are  the 
words,  for  Long  Island  trout  are  not  to  be  trifled  with     The 
rod  should  be  permitted  to  do  its  duty,  and  the  angler  be 
neither  impatient  nor  excited.     Anglers  who  have  never  vis- 
ited Long  Island  are  comparatively  innocent  of  the  real  zest 
of  troutmg;  for,  without  being  annoyed  with  stinging  and 
biting  flies,  the  trout  are  as  large  and  as  free  from  rust  or  the 
effects  of  discolored  waters  as  are  those  of  the  estuaries  on 
the  coast  of  Maine  or  along  the  "Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     Qn 
the  island  they  run  from  a  quarter  to  three  pounds  in  weio-ht 
sometimes  more,  and  are  in  the  highest  state  of  succulent'ad- 
iposity.     The  climate  is  charming,  surroundings  most  invit- 
ing, hotels  where  good  cheer  greets  the  sportsman  through- 
out the  year.     I  love  Long  Island,  and  venerate  its  trout 
streams. 


158 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Wateks. 


r 


"  Nature  hiith  endless  nsjiectH :  to  the  nngler 
She  doth  her  beiiuties  mid  her  glories  all  unfold  ; 
A  mugic  light  rests  upon  liuid  and  sea,  ' 
And  all  her  brooks  are  silver,  all  her  sunshine  gold." 

What  angler's  heart  does  not  beat  more  quickly  at  the 
joyous  announeement  of  the  opening  day  of  the  trouting 
season  ?  He  will  find,  upon  asking  himself  seriously,  be  he 
rich  or  poor,  learned  or  ignorant,  that  no  announcement  of 
any  other  recreation  so  thrills  his  heart.  The  emotion  caused 
by  the  school-master  when  he  used  to  say  "boys  may  go 
out,"  or  "  there  will  be  a  vacation  until  next  Monday,"  is 
quadrupled  and  sublimated  by  the  permission  given  from  a 
higher  sphere,  as  if  Heaven  said  "  boys  may  go  out."  Go 
forth  from  your  counting-houses,  your  mephitic  offices,  your 
workshops,  for  it  is  the  opening  day  of  the  trouting  season ! 

"  With  Winter's  frown  let  sadness  cease, 

And  cankering  care, 
And  o'er  the  brow  sweet  smiles  of  peace 

Wreathe  garlands  fair ; 
From  joyous  Nature  catch  the  smile, 
And  every  weary  hour  beguile 

From  care  and  pain — 
Join,  join  with  bird  and  flowing  stream 
In  shouting  forth  the  rapturous  theme, 

'Tis  Sprhig  again, 
'  'Tis  Spring  again!" 

Who  can  forget  the  angling  of  old  at  Oba.  Sncdicor's  ?  The 
late  Daniel  Webster  used  to  be  there  on  the  opening  day  of 
the  trouting  season,  and  so  did  many  of  our  truly  great  men. 
It  was  there  that  John  Stephens  was  advised  to  sail  his  yacht 
in  the  regatta  in  England,  which  resulted  in  his  winning  the 
race.  But  the  Snedicor  Preserve  is  now  in  different  hands. 
A  close  club  of  wealthy  and  intellectual  sportsmen  own  it, 
and  they  have  rendered  it  worthy  of  its  name,  the  "  South- 
side  Club." 

The  light,  artistic  character  of  the  fly-fisher's  tackle  proves 
him  a  disciple  of  the  line  arts,  though  translating  their  spirit 
into  graceful  action. 


Always  Uhe  the  best  Tackle. 


15U 


TuouTiNo  Tacklk 
MODERN   SPLICE    FOB   PLY   RODS 

ul  for  splicing  the  top  joint  of  a  trout-rod      Th.T!^ 
is  the  description :  «  tL'  .,.•..  :fl\T       ..'    ^^"  Allowing 


description :  «  The  splice  is  of  the  ordina 


small,  thin 


rinu  or  fl.^t  rin-  of  brass  at  the  thick 


y  length,  with 


end  of  each 


160 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


splice ;  the  thin  end  of  each  splice  fits  so  tightly  into  (under) 
the  brass  rim  -or  ring  at  the  thick  end  of  the  other  one  that 
it  will  not  shift  in  the  least  degree ;  a  length  of  waxed  glov- 
er's or  tailor's  thread,  tied  on  at  your  leisure  (for  all  is  hard 
held  to  your  hand  by  the  brass  rings),  completes'  the  splice." 


mmmMiiMmmmmmtiniiimm 


Numbers  1,  2,  3  present  a  side  view  of  the  splice,  and  4,  5 
a  surface  view.  Of  course  the  ferrules  or  rings  are  fastened 
firmly  on  the  thick  ends  of  each  splice,  and  splice  ends  are 
requisite  after  unjointing  the  rod  for  protecting  the  thin  ends 
of  the  splice  when  thrusting  the  joints  into  a  case  to  carry 
the  rod  after  a  day's  fishing,  or  when  the  angler  desires  to 
pack  his  rod.  That  is, "  corresponding  pieces  of  spliced  wood, 
with  brass  rings  (or  ferrules)  attached,  are  made,  joined  to- 
gether, carried  in  the  pocket,  and  when  the  rod  is  untied  and 
unjointed  they  are  detached  from  each  other,  and  attached 
to  the  spliced  parts  of  the  rod,  to  save  the  splices  from  any 
accident."  This  is  a  precaution  necessary  for  protecting  all 
kinds  of  splices  of  rods. 

In  returning  to  the  general  subject,  the  spring  opens  earlier 
on  the  south  side  of  Long  Island  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
state.  This  is  owing  to  the  island  extending  so  far  into  the 
Atlantic  that  the  Gulf  Stream  mellows  tlie  air  by  its  warmth. 
Radishes,  celery,  lettuce,  and  sometimes  eschalots,  are  not  un- 
common on  the  1st  of  March,  while  the  martin  and  meadow- 
lark  enliven  the  air,  aiid  the  robin  is  not  far  behind  in  putting 
in  an  appearance  to  open  the  full  court  of  Spring  ;  and  as  the 
angler  casts  from  the  bank  or  from  a  boat,  all  nature  is  alive. 
The  island  being  in  the  direct  routC  for  the  passage  of  wild- 
fowl, the  honking  of  them  high  in  air,  and  the  gunners'  in- 
tonations on  the  bay,  give  a  touch  of  sublimity  and  grand- 
eur which,  when  mingling  with  the  sounds  of  lowing  herds 
and  the  music  of  bh'ds,  brings  heaven  and  earth  together,  and 


Op.™g  Dav  or  THE  TBouTzNa  Season.        m 

and  the  dovLo"  Lcclt    ,  ""'"'■''""'  '■*'*^  "f^nt, 

aecoptunce.        i  11  i ,,  "T™' '""'  S"-f"%  '«■  thei,: 

'— .  a  ..:^c;:t:r  "r etri;:  ""^"' 

click  one.  imon  whinh  ;  "u.     xiis  leel  is  a  narrow 

yards  in  Icno-th      A  nin.  ft   .  i  '^"'^'  ''"^^  ^«  thirty 

»a,  and  .ui,i  t;r  ::':?rsr;'°°'-' -^ 

er,  a  sray  professor  o,  tl,„  «      •'  "'mamon  fly  as  a  stretch- 

fo- jo/a't  „,  at;::: ,  "ifr::';L"::.e:« '^^ "°°!  '^"'  -" 

"-  birds,  hears  al.  nature  w  ki^     «        ^IT"'""^' ^''^^ 
npon  the  mead  when  the  -rass  is  W  '     '  ^''^  "'"P 

a  se„.e  of  velvety  elastioitv  ,  ,  ^"f"""""  '°  ''"""  '^""fe'-'' 
the  cat-tails  of  tife  v  C  ^/i;!' 'J'  "  """'^ '"^  ^'■■-».-- 
■■iPi>lc.  and  the  tron  r  hT  ,  -'''"^  ^  "'°  ""''S'"  "^ *^ 
oast  miniature  rainhor^:  r'l^f^m'rif  ^  "  •""  '"^^ 
e  appr„aohc.„,thi„  easti,,,  dis^^  7/,  Ir"  17  ?" 
•*i  cast,  and  a   aro-e  tronf  mnm.  i  •   ^        \       ^  ^^^  "^^^^'^s 

-turns  with  the  now  spri  1' and  asl^.  '""   7  •''"^'^""^ 
'>lood  quickens  ho  .nnnf      ""    ,  "^  circulation  of  his 

luiLKcns,  no  ^spontaneous  y  ciacul'ito^  «  w  n     i-    . 
u'orth  living  for !"  J'  U^icuuies,      \VeI],  this  is 


162 


Fishing  m  Ateeican  Waters. 


CHAPTER  II. 
FLY-FISHING  ON  MASSAPIQUA  LAKE. 
Fly-fishing  from  boats  or  punts  on  ponds  and  lakes  forms 
a  most  interesting  branch  of  the  art  of  angling.  The  tackle 
is  fine,  and  the  boat  comfortable.  When  tlie  pond  covers  not 
more  than  fifty  acres,  the  oarsman  rows  across  from  side  to 
side  without  turning  the  boat,  but  merely  changing  his  seat 
and  sculls ;  thus  the  angler,  at  the  bow  when  crossing  first,  is 
at  the  stern  while  returning,  and  the  oarsman  continues  to 
cross  and  recross  the  water  back  and  forth,  with  sufficient  lee- 
way to  prevent  the  water  being  twice  fished  over.  The  an- 
gler must  needs  be  ambidexterous,  for  he  must  change  hands 
every  time  the  water  is  crossed.  On  the  trout  lakes  border- 
ing the  Adirondacks  the  boats  are  very  light,  and  finely  con- 
sti'ucted  of  narrow  and  thin  cedar  boards,  very  closely  braced 


Fly-fishing  FKOM  A  Boat.  ^j^ 

cet  long  and  four  feet  wide,  and  are  intended  for  one  anMe, 
and  h,s  gu,de.    The  gnide  has  a  seat  toward  the  boC!., 
e  angkr  takes  a  seat  near  the  stern, either  tf.oZl 

vviiicn  laiib  Horn  the  mountain  into  the  lako  tn,.„rfi       * 

rni:!::^e';.tra  ?::  .r  t  -S"e:rd 

"a"-i  iiuoKh  a  tiout  the  ffuide  rows  nut  m.ro,r  r 

2-  -.no  the';r::i-t  or;nf;^it  r:  r:^ 

cuHoSy.  '  """  ^■""  """•  ""-  -  1-y  «"■  'heir  cruel  ' 

Lalcc  Massapitjua,  at  South  Oyster  Bav  on  T  n„„  T.i     ,  • 
probably  the  best  trout  preserve  in  the  U^Ud  Z         rt' " 

tk.„a„  maintains  the  preserve  for  his  exe  us  v„  use  »d  Z. 
.-     «  -nvued  guests,  who  are  the  ardent  discipLs  Ihe      W 

:i"S:;;: -::c:,=r;; :  :r::  I 


I 


lt)4 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


so  dispose  of  the  bounties  with  which  Providence  lias  favored 
them  as  that  they  shall  confer  blessings  on  all  classes. 

There  are  several  reasons  in  favor  of  fly-fishing  from  a  boat 
over  that  of  wading  a  stream,  or  catching  casts  from  streams 
bordered  with  foliage.  It  is  out  on  the  water,  away  from 
shore,  and  free  from  the  danger  of  getting  flies  fast  on  the 
limbs  of  trees  while  casting  or  playing  a  fish.  There  is  room 
to  play  your  fish.  Your  shore  views  are  fess  restricted.  Two 
anglers,  in  such  case,  form  the  best  company  possible.  The 
business  of  the  world  may  be  canvassed  while  excellent  sport 
is  enjoyed  amid  the  gushing  music  and  harmony  of  nature. 


SECTION  SECOND. 

now  TO   FISH   A   STREAM. 
* '  Wliere  the  robin  carols  loudly — 
Gayly  and  untroubled  sings, 
And  the  lark  is  poised  most  proudly 

On  his  strong,  untiring  wings. 
There  may  I  be  found  each  morning, 

With  my  rod  and  reel  complete, 
Not  a  speckled  beauty  scorning 
In  the  pearly  streams  I  meet. 

"  Oft  I  pause  to  hear  the  thrushes 
Trilling  out  their  morning  song 
In  those  wild  and  rapturous  gushes 

Which  to  melody  belong." 
Then  mingled  is  with  song  of  bird. 
The  monotone  of  barn-yard  herd ; 
Anon,  a  flock  of  geese  appears, 
Honking  to  calm  each  other's  fears  ; 
And  as  I  angle  the  streams  along, 
All  the  world  seems  made  of  song. 


I 


Don't  see  it  in  that  Light.       "  1^5 

Hus  we  deftly  cast  the  artifi- 
cial lure  on  the  margin  of  the 
streams,  or  on  the  bosom  of 
lake  or  pond,  whipping,  whip- 
ping, whijDping  all  the  day,  gjid 
playing  trout  till  twilight. 
Questions  in  relation  to  fish- 
-  ing   up   or   doxon   a    stream 
should  be  decided  by  the  con- 
dition of  the  stream  and  its 
borders.     While  casting  from 
-■  the  shore,  it  makes  very  lit- 
"  tie  difference  which  way  the 

ill-  it  is  best  to  fi  1.  .        '*'^^'''  ''  ^'^^^5  ^"t  i"  ^-^d- 

w wo,  cast  to  the  farther  shore,  drawhig  your  flie«  across  the 
ream,  but  not  too  fast,  lest  the  trout  beeome  suspic  »      L 

Cast  first  near  shore;  then  a  yard  or  two  far^he    off    n!^^' 
across  the  stream.     If  vou  wt  not  ,  ,.i      .  ,  '  ' 

up  the  stream  and  repeat    "cll  t  T'  "  ''""  °''  '^™ 

arises  as  to  whether  tCont  aWyZl:."  h  e'  "  ^T 
oue  fly  by  another  of  diffe..nt  colo^fC    ny'o  '     ,:':^" 

Hy  that  the  trout  adm.re,  change  your  other  fliea  (if  you  fi,h 
on         :r-*  •"  T"  '"'"""'■'  '"  ^"S"'  -l-f  to    he'tX 

tto-l  t  of,   .  ti    , "■'  "?  "'"^  ^^  ''■•?''■»  ■■™°ve  above 
.est  ot  manknul  as  not  to  be  susceptible  to  a  slight  influ- 


166 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


ence  from  the  baser  sentiments  of  humanity ;  but  I  have  actu- 
ally seen  a  man  so  self-willed  as  to  fish  all  day  without  a  rise, 
"  because,"  as  he  said, "  he  was  determined  to  bring  the  trout 
to  his  terms." 

All  kinds  of  angling  call  for  the  exercise  of  patience ;  but 
fly-fishing  requires  the  gift  of  genius.     Do  not  fish  with  too 
long  a  cast.     In  fishing  a  creek  up  stream,  thirty  to  forty-five 
feet  are  quite  sufllicient.     In  striking,  let  it  be  with  suflicient 
force  to  fasten  the  hook  in  his  jaw;  but  play  your  fish  most 
gingerly  and  even  tenderly,  but  not  so  as  to  give  him  slack 
line,  or  he  will  disgorge  the  hook.     One  of  the  principal 
causes  of  losing  large  fish  is  the  being  in  too  great  a  hurry 
to  land  thMm.     If  the  hook  is  well  fastened,  the  more  deli- 
cately your  fish  is  played  the  better;  for  snubbing  a  fish 
^lard  at  all  points  wears  an  orifice  in  its  jaw  from  which  the 
hook  falls  by  the  mere  turning  of  the  fish.    It  is  true  that  the 
trout  has  a  good  mouth  to  hold  a  hook,  but  the  hook  must 
first  be  Avell  fastened  to  hold,  and  then  the  orifice  made  in 
hooking  should  not  be  worn  larger  in  playing,  if  possible  to 
,  avoid  it. 


SECTION  THIRD. 

KNOTS,  LOOPS,  AND  DROPS. 

While  anglers  should  let  every  trade  live,  and  buy  their 
tackle  in  preference  to  making  it,  yet  with  the  make  of  cer- 
tain parts  of  tackle  every  amateur  should  be  familiar.  Of 
course  he  should  know  how  to  tie  on  a  hook,  and  how  to  make 
a  loop  whose  equal  bearings  would  prevent  it  from  chafing 
or  breaking  at  the  loop-knot. 

No.  1.  Bending  on,  or  tying  on  a  hgok.  The  hook  should  be 
tied  on  stained  silk-worm  gut,  round,  clear,  and  strong ;  for 
in  playing  a  fish  the  tackle  generally  parts  near  the  hook. 
Use  scarlet  silk,  well  waxed  with  a  drab  wax  made  from 
tar,  like  shoemaker's  wax,  only  light-colored.  From  about 
half  an  inch  below  the  end  of  the  shank,  make  lialf  a  dozen 
turns  with  the  silk  to  t1ie  end  of  the  shank,  and  place  an 


Soak  Gut  befoke  Tying. 


167 


™  h/  .  .      '  ™"^'"S  "'''^'''  *'sht,  and  neat,  until 

you  have  wound  down  to  near  the  end  of  the  gut,  Or  Nearly 
half  the  length  of  the  shank,  when  hold  the  end  of  your  silk 
here  and  form  a  loop  of  the  remainder,  and  cast  it  three  or 
our  fmes  over  the  shank  as  represented ;  then  draw  up  the 
loop  by  the  end  of  the  silk  thread,  which  will  leave  the  end 
fas  ened  under  those  three  or  four  loops  cast  over  the  bend 
of  the  hook,  thus  forming  a  good  finish,  so  that  you  may 
cut  the  end  of  the  silk  thread  close  to  the  tic  without  dan 
ger  of  its  drawino-. 


168 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


I 'I! 


No.  2.  Snell  loop.  Soak  the  gut,  and  tie  the  loop  as  repre- 
sented. It  is  the  very  best  tie  for  a  loop,  and  I  have  en- 
deavored so  to  represent  it  as  to  enable  an  amateur  to  im- 
itate it. 

No.  3.  A  helm-knot,  or  tiller  hitch,  useful  in  sailing  a  boat  or 
yacht,  because  the  hitch-though  secure-is  loosened' in- 
stantly by  a  jerk  at  the  end. 
No.  4.  The  cor^mon  knot  for  forming  a  loop  at  the  end  of  a 

silk-worm  gut  or  line. 
No.  5, 5.  Two  half  hitches,  forming  a  slide-knot  in  a  casting- 
line,  to  slide  for  holding  a  drop,  and  for  changin'    drops  at 
will.     Some  anglers  cast  the  end  twice  round  Tnstead  of 
once,  as  shown.     The  drop  hangs  well  from  it,  being  at  a 
right  angle  from  the  casting-line  ;  but  with  only  one  hitch 
of  each  end,  as  represented,  the  gut  is  apt  to  slip  and  part 
the  casting -line,  especially  if  the  drops  are  frequently 
changed,  because,  when  the  knots  become  drawn  very  tight 
they  are  hard  to  slide,  and  sliding  them  to  change  drops' 
weakens  them;  but  I  have  taken  many  hundreds  of  trout 
on  drops  so  arranged. 
No.  6.  The  first  drop,  of  the  correct  length.    It  is  the  red  ibis 
fly,  all  formed  of  the  ibis  feather  but  the  red  silk  body 
wound  with  very  small  gold  or  silver  cord.     This  is  one 
of  the  most  attractive  lures  for  trout,  but  it  is  not  so  good 
as  the  coachman,  or  several  of  the  protessors,  for  larg3  fish. 
The  tail  and  hackle  at  the  neck  are  brown. 
No.  7.  A  knot  recommended  by  many  accomplished  anglers 
for  connecting  lengths  of  gut  to  form  a  casting-line.    Some 
bend  the  end  twice  round  inst-^d  of  once,  as  shown.     If 
only  once,  the  ends  should  be  lashed  with  waxed  silk. 
No.  8.  Drop,  fastened  by  a  half  hitch  round  the  castino--line 
and  the  end  of  the  gut  near  the  knot.    After  tying  the\not 
of  the  casting-line,  draw  it  tight,  and  cut  off  one  and  close 
leavmg  the  upper  end  half  an  inch  long.    Lash  this  end  to' 
the  hne,  and  cover  it  with  varnish,  and  loop  the  end  of  the 
drop  over  it.     By  this  plan  the  drop  will  not  chafe  or 


ToBN  OFP  Knbs  wrr„  Var«is„  ok  S„.ll«."     169 

•  tto  lasheS  "  "■«'"  '°™  *  Sood  covering  f„,. 

""fow^r:  "•"'"'^"''^-    ^^^^"''"'^  ™'S  "o-Jy  »d  Guinea. 

silk,  and  vatS.uIr  ""'  '""«' ""'  '"^'^  ""^  -'"  «» 

No.  12.  Alcler-fly-^,y%^y^,,^g^_^^^,         peacock's  horl  .  i  • 

ped  w.th  red  silk ;  ™,s  of  g.yLkl  ^K        '  ^'''' 
^o.  13.  Attaching  the  casting-line  to  the  reel-line     Th;«  i 

ml*s  T!;,V":,*;'"S-""^'  "gg^d  with  rtretcher  and  two  drop 
fl'es.  The  object  .s  to  show  the  stndent  how  thev  shouM 
be  ..gged,  so  that  all  may  fall  at  the  same  til  ™  tit  wa 

Vo    '/:r  f  S^  ""^  "^'"™'  ^"S'-^  "^"^  -ting-C 

drop;  17,  the  second  drop,  or hand-flv  h,.i„„fi    "'""''">'• 
est  to  the  angler's  hand.  V  t^X^X::^^ 

two"::,  It,;  ":£:^i\^-^^^^  ^ %t™'^  ^ '^" 

luiee  mclieb  ni  icngth.     The  knots  in  the 


170 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


casting-line  show  where  the  lengths  of  gut  are  tied— thus, 
fron.  the  stretcher-fly  to  the  first  drop  are  four  lengths  of 
gut,  and  three  or  four  longths  from  the  first  drop  to  the 
hand-fly.     Thesi-  diilances  will  be  changed  to  suit  taste 
and  tho  distance  of  cast.    For  long  casts,  the  drops  should 
^e  a  yard  apnrt. 
No.  18.  A  tie  for  uniting  lengths  of  gut,  so  that  they  will 
break  at  any  other  part  as  easily  as  at  the  tie.     Tie  a  knot 
in  the  end  of  each  length  of  c  y  ,  Jap  them  an  inch,  and 
wmd  them  closely  between  the  knots  with  white  waxed 
silk.     This  is  the  best  tie  for  a  salmon  leader  or  a  trout 
casting-line.     Casting-lines  sho.uld  be  made  of  stained  gut 
the  gut  selected  so  as  to  taper  regularly  from  the  reel-tine' 
to  the  stretcher-fly;  and  the  drops  should  be  cf fine, clear 
round  gut,  stained  to  the  shade  of  the  casting-line      It  is' 
an  mdication  of  very  bad  taste  in  a  fishing-tackle  maker  to 
otter  finely-tapered  and  stained  casting-lines  and  flies  tied 
to  coarse  gut,  and  not  dyed  or  shaded  to  the  tint  of  the 
castmg-line.     All  should  be  in  harmonious  keeping,  l\om 
the  reel-line  to  the  casting-line  and  drops.     For  casting 
from  a  boat  or  from  the  clear  margin  of  a  stream,  the  cast- 
ing-hne  should  be  nine  feet  in  length,  or  even  a  foot  or  two 
more,  only  have  a  care  not  to  make  it  so  long  that,  with  the 
bend  of  a  twelve-foot  rod,  you  can  not  reel  np  sufiiciently 
close  to  bring  your  fish  within  reach  of  your  landing-net. 
For  rough  fishing  on  a  stream  of  bramble  marsjins  a  cast- 
ing-line of  from  six  to  seven  feet  in  length,  and  one  drop 
besides  the  stretcher,  may  be  sufiicient.    Many  anglers  dis- 
pense with  drops,  and  fish  with  one  fly  only  ou  some  streams 
m  the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and 
throughout  the  region  in  New  Y<,rk  known  as  the  Adiron- 
(lacks,  which  is  about  forty  miles  square,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  fish  and  game  regions  in  America. 

HOW   TO   stain   SILK-WORSI   GUT.  > 

Gut  may  be  stained  by  leaving  it  in  a  strong  decoction  of 


To  STAIN  Silk-worm  Gut.  '  i^^ 

i^TL     '""""'•"o'"''  without  iDJuring  the  gut 
Hals  as  stair  fh^  \         ^  "^^''''^  ^"^  such  mate- 

dye  .s  obtained  by  boiling  a  handful  of  the  Z^o,-  slv 

-:ro?arur::r;;:::Lt^^^^^^^ 
-..r::,r-irt,rif"^^ 

Gut  .hould  bo  emirelv  did     «  ""^"""^  "  "''*^'"«'- 

.bouldbe  thoroug";  Lw  .rf"'/'""'"^  '''  """  '"-  " 
in«  it  perfect,,,  it' hL^t  ™  ^  Col ^I^'"'  *^  <'^>- 
ed  on  a  boa.-d  with  the  ends  fasten  ^  t0^2ZTt 
e.vcellout  p  an  for  kepnino- ti,o       *    .    /^t^<^P  it  straight.    An 

are  tied  is  Hutchinson W,!      ^  "«'"  "P™  -"eh  Ai-s 

^o  ^xuLcuiiison  s,  before  mentionpH      tk^    t  ^ 

between  the  loops  or  rings  and  th    hook"  luM  be  ' 

uated  as  to  aecomnjodat..  different     „g,  ,,s  of  "  f       %  ^''"" 
tedonthe  pao-e  of  trontin„  t„„i,i    .,  ^    '  "'  """stra- 

to  change L:ffl:ir:;^rot''.^r„r''^ 

ee".,t  for  drop,but  stre'tchers  wo^ret  J       5 ^  ^  ^ 
00.      l(,r  convenience.     On  ffoii.o-  n  f..«„4-       t  "^      ^" 

a  couple  ,     casts, -such  as  fmay  Think  "n     "'""'""' "P 
-hich  I  contomplate  fishing.    For  most  wl  i  "l"  """^ 

the  stre       ;  fW  I  ""J  ^"P'o^  '»»  -—  as 

or,  and  a  mallar.  1"  ..It     '  "'':  "'  ''  ="•"'"''-  f"  anoth- 
mg,  wit<;  claret  body,  for  the  tliird.     The 


'ill 


II 


m 


172 


Fisiirao  IN  Amebican  'Watebs. 


above  the  ib.s  .s  a  cm„amo„,  a,„l  tl,e  *i™t  ,lr„,,  above  the 
ma  ur.l  w.„g  »  a  cmnamon.  The  hand-Hk.  are  ihe  blue  dun 
or  he  cow.d„„g.     The  blue  professo,-  fa  aUo  an  excellent  flv 

•7 

My  advice  to  the  angler  i,  to  purchase  his  flics  of  the  best 
fly-tyers  m  New  Yorlc  and  Boston,  where  competition  has  pro- 
duced  the  necessity  for  employing  first-rate  materials  in  all 
the  departments  of  flsliing-taclile,  whether  of  g,it,  flies  hoolcs 
hues,  reels  rods,  and  the  coarser  paraphernalia  of  the  Cle  ' 
Tboux  R..ts._The  click  reel  is  incomparably  the  Ls*; 
hongh  ,t  ,s  not  so  good  to  dry  a  line  on  as  is  the  Billinghas 
reel,  wh.ch  is  formed  of  brass  or  German  silver  wire,  and  the 
me  open  on  all  sides  to  the  air.    The  click  reel  checks  the 
Hue  to  a  certam  weight  of  resistance,  to  which  the  an^er 
soon  becomes  accustomed,  and  in  giving  the  flsh  the  bntt'he 
does  .t  wHh  confldenee,  because  he  has  ascertained  frou,  ev 
penenee  bow  great  a  check  he  puts  upon  the  flsh,  and  the  pre- 
cise s  ram  caused  to  his  casting-line,  which  he  has  rcrulated 
accordingly     This  is  not  the  case  with  a  reel  whose  tens  o 
of  drag  may  be  changed  several  times  during  one  day's  sport 
But  the  best  reel  for  my  use  is  a  click  reel,  with  a  targe'pe' 
forated  barrel  or  cylinder  to  reel  the  line  on,  and  it  fh.Mild 
also  be  perforated  at  the  ends  over  the  cylinder,  for  dryino- 
the  line.     The  advantage  of  a  large  cylinder  to  .«!  the  lim- 
on  when  the  reel  does  not  multiply  is  important,  because  i, 
shortens  the  time  of  reeling.     Besides,  with  a  Large  cylinder 
thirty  yards  is  a  sufficient  length  of  line.     I  once  killed  a  flve- 
and-.a-half-pouiid  trout  in  a  very  rapid  stream  with  a  nine- 
onnee  rod  and  only  thirty  y.ards  of  line.     It  took  me  two 
houi-s  and  twelve  minutes  to  kill  the  flsh,  timed  by  Dr  Be- 
thiiiie,  of  Boston.  .X      '-"e 

A  click  multiplier  is  better  for  anglmg  with  the  worm  or 
minnow,  but  many  bait  anglers  of  the  country  prefer  a  small 
multiplier  without  a  click  or  drag.     BelLmeUl  is  su;;™" 


M 


AGIO  IN   A   OOOI)   FlY-KOD. 


173 


millet r  y  f "™'"  ''''''  ^^  ^^'^«^'  ^"^  -1---^  or  al«. 
milium,  IS  better  than  either. 

Fly  RoDs._Rods  made  from  split  bamboo  are  unquestioii 
ab  y  the  best  in  use ;  but  a  Robert  Weleh  rod,  of  ash  for  tl 

l>oo  for  the  foiirtl,  or  top  joint,  is  the  best  rod  that  I  liave 
mulT  W   *■""■  Tr'  ''■''''''"-■     '""'  «I""  bamboo  rod 

"lu   twelve  feet  m  length,  and  I  had  rather  have  it  six 

mehes  over,  or  so  made  with  duplicate  top  and  third  id,  ts 

«  to  make  it  either  twelve  or  twelve  feet  siv  thnnJ    " 

longest  fly  rod  is  only  twelve  feet  and  two  Z^^'  1' 

peter  a  singje  action  rod  to  the  one  of  doubl    a  t ion t  a 

kiek  m  the  handle,"  though  the  latter  may  send  a  fly  ft " 

tier,  and  deliver  it  more  gleefully,  but  it  lacks  the  si  of 

shonid  weigh  from  seven  to  ten  ounces  when  mounted-  and 
.   .Hrom  ash,  lancewood,  and  split  bamboo,  if  strictly  fo    sh, 
gle  hand,  their  weights  should  range  from  nine  f„  flft 

a  d  a  lia^tt  ^  '""'^'^'IS'"'  '^'J  ^ouW^  about  twelve 
and  a  half  feet  long,     ^'either  rod  should  be  too  withy  but 
la  e  snap  or  elasticity  enough  in  the  top  to  hook  a  fish  with 
out  ytelding  enough  to  permit  the  sinner  to  dis-^orge     One 
of  the  pleasures  of  fly-fishing  is  to  nse  a  rod  wh.eh  will  ," 
.pensively  hook  a  tront  without  an  eff-„rt  of  the  .angler     T,e 
» port  consists  ,n  delivering  a  fly  ne.atly  on  a  strai^h    linll 
eeing  the  trout  rise  gushingly  to  the  surface  and  Lent  the  ' 

the  manie.  of  takmg  the  trout,  and  the  suiTonndings  of  a 
pleasing  landscape-the  music  of  birds,  the  sprin.-tfmc  o^ 
general  rejuvenation,  and  the  running  h.;r,non/of  fnt  llcctu 
al  conversation.    Tnere  is  society  in  trouting,  but  it  Z    o" 
p.-event  the  soul  from  basking  in  all  the  lift  and  bettl  of 
sound  and  gayety  around.  ^ 

WD,NoNETs.-Iffor  landing  in  a  boat  or  on  shore  a  two 
jomted  handle  is  the  best.    If  for  wading,  a  short  hancLlt 


I 


174 


Fisiima  IN  AsiERicAN  Watkks. 


11 


tached  to  an  elastic  cord  and  suspended  from  the  slioulder, 
,tOr  a  double-jointer,  in  which  the  second  one  slides  into  the 
first,  and  is  attached  by  a  loop  to  a  button  on  the  breast,  is 
the  least  cumbersome.  I  have  found  the  hollow  wire  rims 
the  best,  and  brass  is  the  best  metal  for  them.  '  The  hollow 
rim  is  light,  and  it  does  not  rust.  As  to  the  round  and  oval 
shapes,  they  are  matters  of  caprice,  and  as  to  the  wicker 
frames  of  wood,  they  are  no  lighter  than  hollow  brass  wire, 
while  they  offer  fourfold  resistance  to  the  water.  The  rim 
should  be  large,  the  meshes  large,  the  twine  not  too  fine,  and 
the  net  itself  large.  A  landin§--net,  large,  strong,  and  light, 
is  one  of  the  angler's  sources  of  delight. 

Trout  Basket. — Let  it  be  plaited  or  woven  from  the  thin 
outer  grain  of  the  willow  or  osier,  very  light  and  large;  to 
contain  ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty  pounds  of  fish  are  the  sizes. 
They  should  be  stained  inside  and  painted  outside,  or  by 
painting  the  inside  also  they  are  more  easily  cleaned.  Green 
is  the  color  preferred.  The  shape  not  very  deep,  with  a  hole 
in  the  lid,  brass  hinges,  a  staple  extending  up  through  the  lid, 
fastened  with  a  padlock.  Tlie  strap  should  be  of  worsted 
webbing  instead  of  russet  leather,  or  if  of  russet  leather  there 
should  be  a  pad  attached,  with  straps  to  slide  on  the  shoul- 
der-strap to  the  r:ght  place.  The  New  York  fishing-tackle 
dealers  have  introduced  a  new  gear,  by  which  the  weight 
rests  on  both  shoulders,  and  the  basket  is  held  more  securely, 
and  is  less  cumbersome  in  forest-fishing.  The  angler's  coat 
should  be  made  with  a  stvap  and  button  on  the  shoulder,  un- 
der which  to  hold  the  stra]i  of  the  trout-basket ;  and  there 
should  be  another  strap  on  the  coat  at  the  left  side,  to  pre- 
vent tlie  basket -strap  from  moving,  and  the  basket  from 
swinging  about  Avhile  climbing  over  logs  and  fences.  But 
the  great  desideratum  consists  in  getting  a  light  and  snuill 
basket,  whicli  will  contain  a  great  many  large  trout  of  your 
own  taking. 

Bait  Box. — Of  course  bait-boxes  and  fly-books  are  articles 
to  purchase  at  the  fishing-tackle  stores ;  and  while  there  are 


Finishing  vr  the  Trouting  Rig. 


175 

numerous  theories  about  fly-books,  there  can  be  but  few  ab«ut 
bait-boxes  I  will  therefore  state,  beware  of  those  thre  ! 
story  complications.     Procure  a  box  as  simple  as  possible  in 

belt  which  holds  up  the  wading  water-proofs,  or  the  common 
leather  waist-belt.     It  should  consist  of  two  compartmeat 

^  Carkyi^g  Casts  of  FLiEs.-Instead  of  winding  a  castin<.- 
hne  ound  the  hat,  a  double  band  is  made  to  fit  the  hat  an^'d 
buckle  round  over  the  hat-band,  and  the  casting-line  or  snell- 
ed  fl.es  are  attached  to  it  and  folded  in,  so  aslot  to  ex^ 
hem  or  render  them  liable  to  get  loose  and  dangle  about  to 
the  danger  of  the  face  and  eyes.  The  Calcutta  ^r  Gib  UUr 
spornig-hat,  Illustrated  on  the  plate  with  the  salmon-rc:^^  i 

'Wlf  f/  "    ""'f'  '"'  ""'^'^"^^  '^"^'"^'^^  «-^  -•  -«ts.     A 
snelled  fly"  is  a  length  of  silk-worm  gut,  ^Vith  a  fly  at  one 
end  and  a  loop  at  the  other.  ^ 

STRAiGHTExixa  CASTiNG-LiNEs.-IIitch  the  line  at  one  end 
either  by  the  hook  or  a  loop,  and  rub  the  line  with  brown 
paper  between  your  thumb  and  finger,  and  it  will  take  the 
turns  out  of  it;  or,  rub  it  between  India-rubber;  but  both 
these  methods  tend  to  chafe  the  gut  more  or  l,ss,  and  neither 
should  be  resorted  to  if  you  can  have  time  to  soak  the  <.ut  in 
tepid  water  half  an  hour.     I  am  in  the  habit  of  soakhr.  my 
casting-lme  over  night  in  cold  ^vater  if  I  intend  to  fish  early 
the  next  morning;  and  lam  accustomed  also  to  selecting  the 
flies  which  I  thmk  may  be  necessary,  and  on  the  rim  of  a  kass 
nearly  filled  with  water  I  hang  the  hooks,  letting  tin   -nU  fid! 
Ml  the  glass  and  soak  all  night.    I  do  not  approve  of  stmight- 
ening  gut  by  iriction  when  soaking  it  is  possible 

Thus,  with  a  finely-balanced  and  finished  fly-rod    a  click 
reel  attached  to  the   rod  below  the  hand,  a   silk  Ld  hair 
braided  line,  protected  from  the   eftect  of  water  by  bei„. 
o.led  varmshed,  or  saturated  with  some  oleaginous  substance" 
braided  hke  a  whip-lash  to  taper  each  xv.ay  from  the  middies 


176 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


a  stained  gut  casting-line  tapering  from  tlie  reel-lino  to  the 
stretcher,  a  well-selected  cast  of  flies,  with  drops  artistically 
fastened  to  the  casting-line,  and  of  proper  length,  a  good 
landing-net  and  light  basket,  and  I  am  ready  for  tlie  fray  and 
to  angle  all  day ;  for  I  never  yet  experienced  a  day  long 
enough  Avhile  Ashing. 

Oh  !  the  varied  and  mixed  emotions  of  the  fly-fisher.  How 
often  he  is  tantalized  by  false  rises,  which  suddenly  inflate 
him  with  hope,  to  collai^se  as  soon  by  disappointment.  Some- 
times he  misses  a  well-intended  rise  of  so  bold  an  eflbrt  as  to 
render  the  fish  too  much  alarmed  by  the  sights  and  sense  of 
the  upper  air  to  trust  a  repetition.  Anon  he  liooks  a  fine 
trout,  and  in  playing  it  the  hook  parts  from  the  j:^\v  of  the 
fish,  leaving  to  conjecture  whether  it  was  really  a  disgorge 
or  a  too  tender  hold.  Thus  he  continues  whipi)ing  the  water, 
exercised  by  various  emotions  when  a  large  feeding  trout 
springs  above  the  water,  rev*  aling  all  his  beauties  of  color 
and  proportions,  and,  takhig  the  fly,  he  dar^s  away  Avith  the 
power  and  celerity  which  prove  that  he  is  going  to  try  the 
strenorth  of  the  tackle.  What  intercstiuGr  moments  to  the 
angler !  The  numerous  runs  of  the  fish,  his  wiles  and  strat- 
egy to  escape,  are  all  tried  in  vain,  and  he  is  finally  helped 
out  of  the  wet  .by  means  of  the  landing-net. 

The  man  or  boy  who  lias  never  taken  a  trout  has  not 
really  seen  one — with  angler's  eyes.  To  the  angler,  a  large, 
healthy  trout  in  fnll  season,  just  taken,  when  fish  are  scarce 
and  bite  shy,  is  the  prettiest  object  in  the  whole  world  of 
beauty. 

NATURAL   AND   ARTIFICIAL  TROrT   FLIES. 

Letter  A,  the  artificial,  and  B,  the  natural  dun-cut  fly  {phry- 
(/anca),  is  a  good  lure  for  the  month  of  IVlay.  IJody  of 
brown  bear's  hair,  mixed  with  blue  and  yellow  worsted, 
whip[)ed  with  green  and  yellow ;  brown  feather  wings,  and 
squirrel's-tail  hair  for  antennie. 

Letter  C,  the  artificial,  and  1),  the  natural  of  the  green-tail  fly 


Deceptions  of  Akt. 


177 


Lotto,- E,tl,c  natumi,  a„,l  F,  the  artificial  of  tl,o  prime  d„„  ■^ 
fly  for  March  (ep/.e,nc,-a),  auA  for  which  mon  ,,  X  til 

Lottcr  I,  the  artificial,  a„<l  J,  the  natural  ,)„n  drake,  or  March 

sk    If,    ;."'""'"  '  "'•  '""'^  ™'  "•'■il'l'«l  with  red 
«lk ,  mottled  wings,  and  hackle  from  the  gray  coek     Pro 

fc-»«or  lienn.c,  M.  Carroll,  and  hosts  of  other  authoriticr 
oonsKlcr  thi,  the  iK-st  March  fly.  """' 

M 


U 


178 


Fishing  in  Asiekican  Waters. 


■I 

til 


Letter  G,  the  natural,  and  H,  the  artificial  cow-dung  fly.    The 
body  of  iemon-yellow  mohair  and  a  yellow  feather,  whip- 
ped with  yellow  silk,  and  the  wings  of  grayish-blue  feather 
of  a  hen,  land-rail,  or  mallard.     This  is  one  of  the  taking 
flies  for  March  and  April,  and  the  best  that  I  ever  saw  were 
tied  by  Pritchard  Bro3. 
Letter  K,  the  artificial,  and  L,  the  natural  blue  dun  or  vioxct 
fly.     Body  of  light  worsted  violet,  mixed  with  gray  down ; 
the  wings  from  the  pale  feathers  t>f  a  starling's  wing,  whip- 
ped with  pale  yellow  silk.     The  black  gnat,  early  and  late 
bright  browns  or  cinnamons,  palm  fly,  an!  whirling  dun, 
with  the  blue  dun,  dun  drake,  with  palmers,  hackles,  and 
the  stone  fly,  are  intended  for  both  March  and  April. 
Letter  M,  the  natural,  and  N,  tlie   artificial  hawthorn  fly. 
Body  of  black  ostrich  herl  or  black  seal's  fuv,  mixed  with 
buft*  mohair ;  wings   of  horn   shavings,  or  of  the  palest 
snipe's  feather  or  mallard's  wins'. 
Letter  O,  the  natural,  and  P,  the  artificial  oak  fly.     This  is  a 
May  insect,  famous  under  the  names  of  oi\k  fly,  camlet  fly, 
down-hill  fly,  and  canon  fly.     The  body  is  dubbed  with 
dark  brown  shining  camlet,  Avhippcd  witl^  very  fine  green 
silk,  or  is  made  with  a  bittern's  feather,  and  the  wings  from 
the  double  gray  feather  of  a  mallard  ot  of  a  woodcock. 
Letter  Q,  the  natural,  and  R,  the  artificial  green  drake  or 
green  May-fly  the  common  fresh--water  fly  for  May.     The 
body  is  dubbed  with  hog's  down  or  liglit  bear's  hair,  mix- 
ed with  yellow  mohair,  whipped  with  pale  floss  silk,  and  a 
small  strip  of  peacock's  herl  for  the  head;  the  wings  from 
the  rayed  feathers  of  the  mallard,  dyed  yellow ;  the  hockle 
from  the  bittern's  neck,  and  the  tail  from  the  long  hairs  of 
the  sable  or  ferret. 

The  gray  drake  is  similar  in  form,  but  difl'erent  in  colors, 
having  the  body  dubbed  with  Avhitish  hog's  down,  mixed 
with  black  spaniel's  fur  or  white  ostrich  hei-1,  whipped  wi(U 
black  silk;  the  wings  dark  gray  mallard;  black  hackle,  with 
silver  twist;  whisks  of  tail  from  a  black  cat's  whiskers. 


Fine  Tackle  always  Alluking. 


179 

-adilv  attfl      d  bv  th  "    '"'"''  ''"  S™''--''"^  ""»« 

by  its'fo™      A    ,         .'"''  ™'°''  ""'^  '«='»''  "fa  '--e  than 
one  thfr  »  "'  "  ■'""""S  '"■■'= '«  '*«"••  ">an  a  sinking 

■.Imost  perfect  .tate"  to  w^  cT ft  Irorr™""^  T"  '"^ 
attained.     I  prefer  a  hnrl^  !<•    ,,      o*^  "y^y"?  "i^s  '»l™cly 

«-«-»o.,t^  bt,,: S^':    nlT\"' T'"*  ''"■  *"" 
Joes  common  w„„l  „',"."'"«''■»'■•<' when  wet  than 

which  shonid  be  wonnd  with  iZ^H^T"'-^'  "' 
c'St  copies  of  natin-P  thnt  T  .  "     ^^^^  "^'ii'" 

t:r;„:7,;;rrtr  r;  "h-  ^^^::  ^ 

America,  if  not  in  tl,"  tvlrif  "^  "'""'  '""'  "^  ""^  "»-  » 

-vf?  mol^ifd::;::':;;:  r^  .'•  "''^'"•™»  «y  -  -<i""-  ^r 

J     luutn  anung  the  trouting  season-  hut  thnl  i 
-  n>y  experience  with  tront,  „;..  of  .bj  b'Tt    T,  e tVu ,! 

and  chanc  .  i,T;,l         .''       ''l '"  "'  ""l'™''""^  """"'t  A^™, 


J^-'t»ker,  an  aiitlioritvon  onrrj;.,^  .„.„, 


1^ 


i 


-,i 


180  Fishing  in  American  Waters. 

"A  brother  of  the  angle  must  always  he  sped 
With  three  black  palmers,  and  also  tliree  red  ; 
And  all  made  with  hackles.     In  a  cloudy  day 
Or  in  windy  weather,  angle  you  may." 

lie  then  recommends  the  May-fly,  and  states  that  the  haw- 
thorn fly  should  be  small,  while  the  oak  fly  with  brown  wings 
and  the  grasshopper  should  be  carefully  imitated,  concluding 
.»dth  the  following  advice : 

•'  Once  more,  my  good  brother,  I'll  speak  in  thy  ear  • 
Ilog's,  red  cow's,  and  bear's  wool  to  float  best  ai)pear ; 
And  so  doth  your  fur,  if  it  rightly  iall ; 
I3ut  always  remember,  make  two,  and  make  all.' 


Wise  Trout  below  the  Daai. 


CHAPTER  in. 
MIDDLE  DAM  CAMP. 

of  the  Linbao-oo.  ,„  ^  chain  of  a  do.on  lakes,  in  the  State  of 

^t^rol  'l        t"  "w^V'"  "^'^""^^^"^'^  «^'P---'^ting  that  state 
om  Canada.     Kapul  River  f.ls  i„to  Umbagog  Lake,  and  as 
this  IS  a  famous  troutmg  region,  I  give  a  view  of  the  camp 
vhei-e  the  angler  hixnriates  on  brook  tront  and  spruce  par^ 
tridges,  and  rests  from  his  day's  labor  on  a  spring-bed.    Trout 
of  nine  pounds'  weight  each  have  been  taken  there,  thouc^h  I 
never  ux,k  one  which  scaled  much  over  six  pounds.     It  was 
hei-e  that  I  met  a  new  experience  in  the  character  of  trout 
and  think  it  worth  relating  for  the  benefit  of  anglers. 

Wlnle  I  believe  tliat  trout  are  not  generallv  ^o  discrimin- 
ating m  the  se  ection  of  artificial  flies  as  to  evhice  acuteness 
of  vision,  yet  I  have  experienced  that  at  certain  waters,  when 
the  streams  are  low  and  clear,  a  copy  of  the  living  fly  ^  more 


^\'M 


J'!  I 


iM 


182 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


or  less  necessary  to  success.     This  is  the  case  at  the  pool  and 
rapids  below  the  micldle  dam  at  the  head  of  Rapid  River,  and 
half  a  mile  below  Middle  Dam  Camp,  wher.  a  large  shoal  of 
—apparently  educated— trout  keep  leaping  and  tumbling  so 
that  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  speckled  beauties  of  from  two  to 
five  pounds'  weight  are  always  in  sight.     But  it  used  to  be 
said  that  they  would  not  take  an  artificial  fly ;  so,  school-boy 
like,  the  guests  at  the  camp  sent  every  angler,  on  his  arrival, 
to  "  try  below  the  dam,"  as  a  sell.     It  pleased  them  to  see  a 
fresh  man's  face  glow  at  the  first  sight  of. those  sportive  beau- 
ties,  which  acted  as  if  half  in  coquetry  and  half  in  defiance 
of  anglers.     I  felt  thankful  when  Avitncssing  the  self-denyine 
hospitality  which  prompted  several  anglers,  who  were  entii-e 
strangers  to  me,  to  cease  angling  opposite  the  camp  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  shoAving  me  a  pool  full  of  very  anxious  trout. 
They  left  after  I  had  tried  in  vain  to  coax  a  favorable  notice 
at  one  cast  of  flies.    I  changed  my  cast  several  times,  and 
then  rested  the  pool  to  allow  them  to  change  their  minds  or 
whet  their  appetites,  until  I  devoted  in  that  way  about  two 
days,  to  the  amusement  of  the  anglers  at  the  camp,  and  final- 
•  ly  began  to  think  that  the  stories  I  had  heard  about  the  sa- 
gacity of  those  trout  were  true.     On  my  return  to  camp  aft- 
er each  trial  below  the  dam,  I  saw  that  my  brethrex^  of  the 
angle  were  interested  in  my  eff"orts  by  their  furtive  glances 
and  sly  winks  at  each  other  as  they  anxiously  inquired  what 
«port  I  had  enjoyed.     But  all  their  jokes  fell  short,  for  my 
mind  was  with  the  sparkling  beauties  below  the  dam.    Aftei- 
having  exhausted  my  fly-books  of  their  attractive  lures,  I 
concluded  to  repair  to  the  dam  and  study  the  trout.     There 
they  were,  apparently  as  jolly  as  ever,  rolling,  tumbling,  and 
leapmg  about  the  surface  of  the  clear,  curling  pool.    1  had 
not  sat  long  on  the  dam,  and  peered  into  the  sparkling  eddies 
below,  before  I  saw  a  trout  rise  gracefully  and  swallow  an 
ash-colored  midge  which  had  floated  down  from  the  dam. 
On  looking  around  me,  I  saw  a  cloitd  of  drab  ephemera,  rath- 
er larger  than  musquitoes,  swarming  over  the  dry  timber 


Fish  PiiiLosoniY  evolved.       *  ig'S 

dam,  and  ever  and  anon,  as  one  fell  on  the  water,  a  trout 
rose  very  gracefully  and  swallowed  it,  turning  quickly  down 
and  causing  a  whirl  made  by  his  caudal  train,  which  had  so 
excited  me  when  I  first  looked  upon  the  pool.     With  assidu- 
ity 1  commenced  examining  my  flies  in  search  of  an  ash 
midge.    I  soon  found  a  pair,  and,  placing  one  on  as  my  stretch- 
er, the  first  cast  I  made  with  it  fastened  a  three-pound  trout 
played  and  landed  it.     The  next  cast  I  fastened  another,  but 
«o  slightly  that  the  hook  parted  from  his  mouth.     Two  or 
three  more  casts  assured  me  that  the  shoal »  smelt  a  rat  •» 
and  as  minks,  muskrats,  and  fiics  with  hooked  tails  are  their 
terror,!  adjourned  to  another  pool,  and  did  not  return  to  the 
dam  until  nearly  night,  when  I  took  the  conceit  out  of  four 
more  beauties ;  but,  after  playing  the  fifth  nearly  half  an  hour 
he  made  a  rush  for  the  rapids,  and  went  over  the  c/«^^.  cai' 
lymg  away  my  casting -line.     Having  captured  five,  and 
played  two  more  trout  that  day,  I  felt  satisfied.     T  had  for 
years  contended  that  trout  might  be  taken  with  artificial  fly 
when  in  feeding  humor,  but  I  had  never  before  found  them  so 
fastidious  01  discriminative.    Since  then,  Mr.  James  Stephens, 
of  Hoboken,  and  myself,  hired  a  trout-pond  in  Connecticut, 
and  though  I  fished  it  three  days,  and  Mr.  Stephens  three 
weeks  yet  neither  of  us  succeeded  in  capturing  one  with  the 
fly.     Neither  w'ould  tlicy  take  a  minnow,  while  they  rose 
.ireely  to  angle  and  grub  worms,  cast,  without  sinker,  as  a  fly 
On  tJie  last  day  of  my  visit  to  the  pond  I  saw  the  trout  rush- 
mg  furiously  after  tadpoles;  but,  as  I  had  not  time  to  re- 
main and  try  that  bait,  I  probably  lost  a  treat,  for  I  have 
since  heard  that  it  is  the  favorite  lure  for  trout  in  some  parts 
of  the  state.     Indeed,  the  fish-culturists  of  Fn.uce  p.  .palate 
irogs,  that  the  trout  may  feed  on  tadpoles. 

The  angler,  on  making  a  lengthy  tour  for  sport,  can  not 
have  too  great  a  number  or  variety  of  artificial  flies  He  can 
procure  them  at  the  principal  fishing-tackle  establishments 
m  Now  lork,  where  competition  has  so  sharpened  invention 
and  enterprise  that  the  best  flies  and  fly-tiers  are  imported 


I! 


184 


FisiiiNo  IN  American  Wateks. 


li 


together  with  the  best  materials,  from  wlicrever  on  oartli 
they  are  to  bo  obtained.  Or  he  may  be  supplied  in  Bo>ton, 
Montreal,  Quebec,  or  at  Rome,  Rochester,  or  Mumlurd,  New 
York. 

In  addition  to  an  extensive  assortment  of  flies,  the  angler 
should  carry  silks,  wools,  mohair,  duiliiigs,  and  featiiers  of  va- 
rious colors,  gold  and  silver  tlireads  and  thiscls,  tine  houks, 
and  selected  gut,  so  that  he  may  occasionally  extemporize  a 
cast  of  flies,  which,  though  not  so  finely  tied,  mn  v  combine 
size  and  colors  attractive  for  the  finny  epicures  which  show 
themselves  fastidious  about  putting  in  an  appearance.  This 
course  is  pursued  by  many  experienced  anglers,  whom,  I  may 
justly  add,  arc  groat  bunglers  at  tying  a  fly  or  [>ropcrly 
mounting  a  hook.  Half  a  dozen  lessons  from  Pritchai<l 
Brothers,  or  from  one  of  the  fly-tyers  for  Andrew  Clerk  & 
Co.,  could  scarcely  fail  of  being  useful  to  the  student  of  con- 
templative philosophy. 

SECTION  SECOND. 

SELECT   ARTIFICIAL   TROUT-FLIES, 


No.  1.  Black  Guat.— Black  ostrich-l'eatlier  body,  wings  of  pale  8tnrlinj,''s  feather,  drab 
tail  and  antennie.  2.  Red  Ibis.— Red  body,  wound  with  gold  or  silver  cord;  brown 
hackle  and  tail,  red  ibis-feather  wings.  3.  Wilson's  Professor.— Yellow  gut  body, 
mounted  by  M'Brldc,  of  Mumford.  N.  Y. ;  red  ibis  tail  headed  with  gold  tinsel,  brown 
hackle,  gray  mallard  wing.  4.  Stwiie  Ply.— Green  drake  wing  and  hackle,  drab  body 
and  tall.  5.  Pritchard's  Stone  Fly — Composition  body,  drab  wings,  tail,  and  anten- 
nae. 0.  Cinnamon  Fly.— Orange  body,  ash-colored  wings,  brown  hackle  ami  tail. 
7.  Green  Drake.— Silver  body,  tipped  with  gold ;  short  black  hackle,  black  head, 
brown  tail ;  wings  and  shoulders  of  green  drake  feather. 


A   C'KOOKEl)    BUT    POIMtU    SlUJECT. 


165 


ROUND   BEND   FLY-IIOOKH, 

These  are  Adl  igton  and  Hutchinson's  superfine  warranted 
east-steel  hooks.  They  are  imported  in  great  nun i hers  by- 
Andrew  CleH  V  <  and,  whether  straight  or  ^  urbed,  arc  i  lie 
host  fly-hou  use,  and  infinitely  superior  ti.  the  c  )nimon 

Limerick  hook. 


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FISH-HOOK    I'HILOSOPHY. 

Upon  the  subject  of  fisli-hook  heir  important  qualities 
and  bearings  are  applicable  hooks  for  all  fishing  purposes. 
The  draft,  or  ])ull  on  a  hook,  is  equally  applicable  to  a  hook 
for  fly-fishing  or  for  caj-t  ing  tlie  largest  sharks.  It  is  con- 
ceded by  hook-makers  that  the  forged  hook  is  the  best, 
,  whether  it  be  hammered  flat,  square,  or  round.  The  needle- 
pointed,  cast-steel  hooks,  of  round  bend,  are  probably  best  for 
mounting  with  flies  for  salmon,  black  bass,  or  trout,  or  bait- 
ing for  striped  bass,  squeteague,  and  maskinonge ;  while  for 
sheepshead,  kingfish,  and  for  all  fishes  Avhich  have  a  small 
and  hard  mouth,  ic  Sprout  bend  is  preferable.  Of  the  Kin- 
sey  or  Pennsylvania  hook,  the  shape  is  good  for  small  fish, 
but  it  gape^  so  much  that  a  large  fish  is  apt— in  sulking  and 
beating  its  nose  against  a  rock,  or  rubbing  it  on  the  travel 
bottom— to  spring  the  hook  out.  If  made  of  large  wire  and 
well  tempered,  it  is  good  for  slK'epshead  and  kingfish,  because 
it  is  not  so  long  from  the  bend  to  the  barb  as  is  the  Limerick 


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(716)  87!2-4503 


10 


186 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


of  the  O'Shaiighnessy  pattern,  or  the  regulation  hook  for  ex- 
portation. The  Virginia  hook,  and  the  Sproat  and  round 
bends  of  Redditch,  are  the  best  that  I  have  seen. 

The  foregoing  cut,  representing  the  samples  of  two  hooks, 
was  clipped  from  a  recent  number  of  the  Field,  and  as  it 
embodies  philosophy  founded  on  experience,  I  give  it,  refer- 
ring to  the  cut,  as  follows : 

"  Now  I  have  this  autumn  devoted  particular  attention  to 
this  subject,  i.  e.,  hcoks.     I  have  been  fishing  with  Hutchin- 
son's Limerick  and  Sproat  bends  (I  may  remark  that  I  can 
not  speak  too  highly  of  the  latter  for  its  prehensile  capabili- 
ties), and  the  following  is  the  result.     In  seven  consecutive 
days'  fishing  I  hooked  thirty-six  fish,  and  of  them  landed 
twenty-seven.     I  was  broken  four  times.     Once  my  single 
gut,  with  which  I  always  fish,  was  frayed  by  a  heavy  fish 
against  sharp  boulders,  and  tliree  times  the  hooks  were  the 
traitors— two  were  Limericks,  and  one  was  a  Sproat.     Three 
out  of  thirty-six  is  too  large  a  proportion,  and  it  is  very  de- 
sirable to  reduce  it.     Even  in  fishing  with  single  gut,  the 
heaviest  fish,  if  properly  handled,  barring  the  circumstances 
of  snags  or  boulders,  seldom  succeed  in  breaking  the  line. 
But  what  handling  will  save  a  hook  ?    One  toill  go  some- 
times, and  most  unaccountably,  probably  from  being  fixed  so 
as  to  allow  the  fish  to  wrench,  jerk,  or  squeeze  it.     The  first 
step  to  a  cure  is  to  find  the  weak  point. 

"The  only  Sproat  hook  which  has  broken  with  me  went  at 
the  point  a.  I  think  it  is  an  admirable  form  of  hook,  al- 
though I  tried  it  first  as  an  experiment  this  year,  with  much 
prejudice  against  the  looks  of  it.  It  is  less  apt  to  break  than 
the  Limerick,  both  from  its  form,  and  because  the  pull,  b,  c,is 
nearly  in  the  direction  of  the  point,  whereas  in  the  other  thv 
line  of  puU,  d,  e,  forms  an  obtuse  angle  at  the  point  e.  Of 
the  thousand  and  one  Limerick  hooks  which  I  have  seen  bro- 
ken, either  against  stones  or  in  fish,  by  far  the  greater  propor-  , 
tion  have  failed  at  the  point  /,  where— in  good  hooks  to  a 
less,  and  in  bad  to  a  greater  measure — the  wire  is  reduced  in 


IivrpoRTANT  Elucidations. 


187 


forming  the  barb.     Having  determined  the  weak  point,  I 
think  it  can  be  merely  a  mechanical  difficulty  which  prevents 
that  part  of  the  hook  being  made  as  strong  as  the  rest,  and 
anglers  should  insist  on  manufacturers  overcoming  it.     I  ob- 
tained some  hooks  from  Messrs.  Bernard,  of  St.  James's  Pas- 
sage, which  were  flat-sided— that  is,  they  were  filed  to  angles, 
and  the  section  of  the  wire  would  be  nearly  an  oblong.    They 
appeared  exceptionally  strong,  but  were  otherwise  objection- 
able, being  over-ironed  and  over-barbed.     I  think  something 
might  be  done  b>  xlattening  the  wire  from  the  beginning  of 
the  bend,  the  shank  being  left  circular  for  fly-dressing  facili- 
ties.    A  section  of  the  wire  at  the  bend  would  then  be  ellip- 
,  tical.     However,  ignorance  as  to  the  manufacture,  unfortu- 
nately, is  in  the  way  of  my  suggesting  any  thing  practical ; 
but  if  I  succeed  in  drawmg  attention  from  anglers  and  man 
ufacturers  to  this  subject,  my  object  in  occupying  so  much 
of  your  space  will  be  fulfilled.  Salmoniceps. 

"  [The  hooks  which  '  Salmoniceps'  describes  as  flat  and  filed 
at  the  sides  are,  we  fancy,  not  Mod,  but  hammered,  as  they 
are  usually  described  in  the  trade  .is '  forged  Limerick  tapers.' 
We  have  previously  expressed  a  very  high  opinion  of  the 
Sproat  bend,  which  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the 
best,  salmon  hook  mf*de. — Ed.]" 

Having  a  greater  variety  of  fishes  to  angle  for  in  America 
than  there  ai  3  of  angler's  fishes  in  Europe,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  recur  to  this  subject,  for  the  fish-hook  is  the  foundation  of 
all  fishing-tackle;  and  if  it  gives  way,  all  the  expense  of 
mounting  or  baiting  it,  with  expense  of  other  tackle  and  loss 
of  time,  besides  the  chagrin,  amounting  to  mortification  and 
sometimes  almost  desperation  at  losing  a  very  large  fish,  o-o 
for  worse  than  nothing.  The  centre-draft  hoolc*  of  the  an- 
cients is  quite  similar  to  the  hook  a,  ft,  c,  minus  the  barb,  and 
it  is  probably  the  best  form  for  all  large  fish. 


i     :  it 

i  I  i 

I  if 


I 


mm 


i 


Plate  of  Trout-flies. 


^  ■ 


A  Clergyman's  Conteibution. 


189 


wl.u^*^i  ^^^^'  ^""""^  ^'*^  g°"*  cord ;  streamers  red,  blue  legs,  2,  Coachman  _ 
White  w  ngs,  green  peacock  herl  body,  brown  legs.  3.  Drab  upper  win^s  and  b?mj;; 
under  ditto ;  cmnamon  body  and  legs.  4.  Red  body  and  leg^brown  mailed  wines 
5  Peacoclc  herl  body, Guinea-hen  wfngs,  brown  hackle.  6.  Sold  body  o?anee  w  nf  s' 
sandy  legs,  and  gray  tail.  T.  Silver-drub  wings,  yellow  body;  and  black  le^s  8  nfrt' 
dish-brown  wings  and  legs,  with  peacock  herfbody.  9.  SrXwinKs  bromi  bodv' 
legs^nd  tail.  10.  Brown  lody,  reef  legs,  gray  mottle  wings  and  anSa,  1?  Jun^l 
fly.-Orange  wings,  brown  body  and  hacBe.  12.  Red  body,  brown  wines  Prav  Zt 
•  ard  wings.  13.  Brown  hackle  and  two  hooks.  14.  Purple  bXwiuf|'fe/!°rav 
tail  and  gr.  a  herl  at  root  of  tail.  15.  Gold  body,  yellow  an/bkck  I'els^  wfn- 
^Ti'nL.?^''"^  ?'"f^  ^'"■''•  !«•  S'^'*"'  ''"•Jy.  speckled  wings,  brown  legs  !?'  B  ac k 
hackle  over  body  of  oiange  wound  with  gold;gray  wings,  and  yellow  tall  18  Brown 
^^»V'7l^  with  gold  cord,  grav  wingsT  red  an  Alack"  hackle!  19  Green  bo?^^^^^^ 
tail,  gray  legs,  and  hackle  round  the  neck.  20.  Yellow  Professor  -Yellowish-^rn v 
wings,  red  tail  golden  body,  gray  antenna.  21.  Gray  PrSor -Brown  maO 
m«^'u'f  ^^^''^i^  sray  body^ wound  with  gold,  yellow  legs  22.  Black  Gnat  - 
W«  hh,»^^'  ^a^a'  l"''^'^ '  ^^  "''SS"-  23.  Blue^'Pro'fessor.-Bo^dy  dark  Wue  and  golT 
S^l?'d"»ro1^fwrgf;nK'^^''" 

SECTION  THIRD. 

BAIT-riSHING   FOR   TROUT. 

"  Hail  to  the  spring-time  and  the  hills ! 
Hail  to  the  meadows  and  the  fog ! 
Hail  to  the  gorges  and  the  rills ! 
All  hail  the  trout  'neath  yonder  log ! 
Have  good  care, 
That's  his  lair : 
Heigh-ho,  hop, 
Flip,  flap,  flop. 

Hail  to  the  shocking  old  straw  hat. 

Second-hand  trowsersj  coat,  and  boots, 
Box  of  worms,  lively  and  fat, 
All  hail  your  hook  in  those  old  roots ! 
Careless  man, 
Mad  as  bran. 
Neither  snap, 
Nor  flip,  flap. 

Blessed  and  calm  the  smiling  mom ; 

Birds  sing  wheresoe'er  we  roam. 
Flowers  the  fields  and  woods  adorn ; 
All  hail  my  line  'midst  dancing  foam ! 
Now  look  out — 
Silent  stand — 
And  a  trout 

Will  kiss  my  hand. 
Hail  the  graceful  silver  gleam ! 

Lo !  a  trout,  with  sudden  spring, 
Forms  a  spray-bow  o'er  the  stream, 
And  is  added  to  my  string. 
Verhum  sap, 
Flip,  flop,  flap." 


190 


Fishing,  in  American  Waters. 


l! 


The  above  pastoral  was  contributed  by  a  clergyman  who 
is  as  eloquent  in  the  pulpit  as  he  is  persuasive  along  the 
streams.     The  disciples  v/ere  fishermen, 

The  bait-rod  should  be  a  little  heavier  and  longer  than  the 
fly-rod.     I  prefer  one  not  less  than  fifteen  feet  in  length, 
formed  of  four  joints,  the  top  one  lancewood;  and  in  place 
of  rings,  I  prefer  guides  of  aluminum.     A  click  multiplier  is 
the  best  reel.     In  angling  a  stream  of  tangled  brush  margin, 
it  may  be  fished  without  the  bottom  joint  by  tying  on  the 
reel ;  and  in  carrying  the  rod  through  brambles,  it  is  best  to 
unjoint,  leaving  the  line  and  reel  on  when  the  distance  is  only 
from  one  trout  pool  to  another,  or  not  more  than  a  mile.    The 
bait-fisher  is  much  more  eager  in  pursuit  of  his  game  than  is 
the  fly-fisher.     He  threads  his  way  through  thorns  and  bram- 
bles that  appear  impenetrable  to  any  one  but  a  bait-fisher. 
He  prefers  to  wade  the  stream  if  it  be  not  too  deep,  but  he 
permits  nothing  to  prevent  him  fi-om  fishing  all  the  pools. 
He  generally  prefers  to  fish  down  stream,  and  if  he  discovers 
fresh  tracks  of  an  angler  gone  before,  he  will  either  endeavor 
most  adroitly  to  get  before  him,  or  he  will  fish  so  slow  as  to 
let  the  trout  recover  from  the  fright  caused  from  the  disturb- 
ance of  the  waters  by  the  angler  ahead  of  him.     In  the  mean 
time  the  foremost  angler  is  continually  on  the  alert  to  see 
that  no  one  gets  before  him  on  the  stream ;  but  if  he  suspects 
an  attempt  to  outflank  him,  he  pretends  to  reel  up  and  p)-e- 
pare  for  home,  when  in  reality  he  is  only  putting  up  his  tao^ 
to  make  a  long  detour  and  arrive  at  the  stream  at  a  greater 
distance  below  his  adversary.     The  bait-fisher  does  not — like 
the  fly-fisher — fish  all  the  stream,  but  knows  how  to  judge 
where  the  trout  lie  in  wait  for  bait.     The  fly-fisher  often 
takes  them  from  the  shallow  reefs  before  they  seek  their  hid- 
ing-places, where  the  bait-fisher  finds  them.     Bait-fishing  is, 
of  all  field-sports,  the  parent  of  more  patience  and  eager  per- 
severance than  any  other. 


U 


mmi 


Glokious  intellectual  Musings. 


191 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LESSON  BY  "JOSH  BILLINGS." 

Anglers  with  bait 
are  a   more  queer, 
quaint,  peculiar  class 
of  sportsmen  than  are 
the   devotees    of  the 
fly,  and  they  include 
in  their  class  students 
deeply  read  in  nature 
and  books.    If  you  de- 
sire to  find  an  original 
genius,  you  will  most 
readily  succeed  among 
anglers  with  bait,  who 
use  primitive  rods  and 
tackle,  and  follow  the 
streams   solitary  and 
silent,  in  a  meditative 
mood,  enjoying  the 
sights  and  sounds  of 
nature  unmolested  by  the  presence  of  the  less  contemplative 
fly-fisher,  or  the  worshiper  of  dog  and  gun.     Such  a  one  Josh 
Billings  appears  to  be,  with  his  coat  buttoned  on  the  wrong 
side,  if  his  writings  are  any  index  to  the  man.     His  lesson  is 
included  in  the  following  original  verse : 

"  Whare  the  dul  stream 
Ilaz  fatted  tew  .a  pulp 
The  sooty  arth, 

Oo  seek  the  dark-skinned  alder 
(A  tiny  forest), 

And  from  the  crowded  growth 
Selekt  a  slender  wand, 


I     ' 


ii 


m 


192  Fishing  in  American  Waters. 

Trii  tapering  from  base  to  pinnakel, 

F'our  yards  in  length. 

Bee  it  thy  care 

Smoothly  the  bark  tew  cleave  from  awl  the  pole 

Save  near  the  springy  top. 

Thare  leave  the  nat-tf  kivver  two  feet  or  more ; 

Haply  thus  the  game  no  fear  will  Lav 

When  thwart  the  brook  yu  stretch  the  reed." 

Anglers  will  agree  that  "Josh"  has  studied  both  the  rod 
and  the  habits  of  trout,  for  he  describes  what  a  fishing-rod 
should  be  for  general  use  in  angling  along  a  stream  where 
reels  and  jointed  rods  are  scarcely  ever  seen.  The  favorite 
baits  for  such  anglers  are,  1st,  angle-worms,  or  common  earth- 
worms, kept  in  moss  a  day  to  scour,  and  then  sometimes 
sprinkled  with  milk  to  feed  them,  and  still  not  to  darken  their 
color ;  2d,  the  white  grub-worm,  found  in  great  numbers  by 
splitting  decayed  logs  of  soft  maple  or  cherry;  3d,  the  shiner 
of  the  brook ;  4th,  the  grasshopper.  The  two  latter  baits  are 
preferred  by  members  of  highest  rank  in  the  profession;  and 
in  lieu  of  the  shiner,  when  near  the  coast,  they  use  smelt  and 
spearing  with  nearly  equal  success. 

THE   AKDENT  angler. 

Our  wide  acres  and  free  streams  are  favorable  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  liberal,  poetical,  and  artistic  ideas,  and  I  select  the 
following  verse  from  a  poem  by  a  gifted  student  at  painting 
and  the  fine  art  of  angling : 

"We  break  from  the  tree-groups,  a  glade  deep  with  grass ; 
The  white  clover's  breath  loads  the  sense  as  we  pass. 
A  sparkle— a  streak— a  broad  glitter  is  seen, 
The  bright  Callikoon  through  its  thickets  of  green  ! 
We  rush  to  the  banks— its  sweet  music  we  hear : 
Its  gush,  dash,  and  gurgle  all  blent  to  the  ear. 
No  shadows  are  drawn  by  the  cloud^covered  sun. 
We  plunge  in  the  crystal,  our  sport  is  begun. 
Our  line,  where  that  ripple  shoots  onward,  Ave  throw ; 
It  sweeps  to  the  foam-spangled  eddy  below ; 
A  tremor— a  pull— the  trout  upward  is  thrown, 
He  swings  to  our  basket— tJie  prize  is  our  own !" 

Alfred  li.  Strket. 


^-A„ 


The  Harmony  of  Nature. 


193 


The  akdent  Anolkk. 


I  have  also  seen  excellent  fly-fishers  with  such  an  extem- 
porized rod  as  Josh  Billings  recommends.     On  Pine  Creek, 
in  Pennsylvania,  anglers  who  fish  for  a  livelihood  use  such  a 
rod,  and  fish  with  only  one  clumsily-tied  fly.    They  wade  the 
stream— which  is  a  good  plan  to  avoid  meeting  rattlesnakes 
—and  to  a  string  tied  over  the  left  shoulder  and  under  the 
left  arm  they  attach  their  fish,  and  tow  them  along  as  they 
angle  down  the  stream.    On  some  days  they  take  from  thirty 
to  fifty  pounds  of  trout.     On  Trout  Run,  a  tributary  to  Ly- 
coming  Creek,  the  best  native  anglers  use  a  rod  formed  of 
two  hickory  joints  lashed  together,  and  a  top  joint  of  whale- 
bone lashed  on— whole  length  about  nine  feet.     They  fish 
down  stream,  wading  the  middle  of  the  creek  where  not  too 
deep,  and  casting  right  and  left  some  forty  feet,  under  boughs 
which  barely  clear  the  water,  bringing  out  large  prismatic 
beauties  at  nearly  every  cast  with  a  single  fly  of  domestic 
make.     They  do  this  where  gentlemen  amateurs,  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  find  it  extremely  difl^icult  to  get  a  rise 
to  their  superior  flics,  though  presented  with  the  best  make 

N 


.i  r 


I II 


194 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


of  split  bamboo  rod,  handled  by  expert  anglers.  The  natives 
tie  on  their  click  reel ;  and  for  guides  and  top,  use  loops  of 
leather  or  raw-hide. 

Reprenons  notre  Discours. — Of  bait-fishing  nothing  seems 
more  simple  to  the  uninitiated  than  to  be  able  successfully 
to  angle  with  a  worm.  Mere  urchins  have  succeeded  with  a 
rough  stick,  linen  line,  and  clumsy  hook,  more  clumsily  tied 
on,  and  covered  with  a  worm,  in  landing  a  goodly-sized  fish. 
But  this  is  a  mere  matter  of  luck,  and  it  would  V  j  absurd  to 
classify  the  performance  among  the  efforts  of  scientific  bait- 
anglers. 

Entertaining,  as  I  really  do,  great  respect  for  many  bait- 
fishers  of  trout,  I  the  more  cheerfully  present  the  following 
opinion  from  the  genial  angler  and  man  of  genius,  Thomas 
Tod  Stoddart,  whose  "  Companion"  and '"  Anglers'  Rambles 
and  Songs"  have  afforded  me  so  much  pleasure  and  instruc- 
tion : 

"  It  may  perhaps  startle  some,  and  those  no  novices  in  the 
art,  when  I  declare,  and  offer  moreover  to  prove,  that  worm- 
fishing  for  trout  requires  essentially  more  address  and  expe- 
rience, as  well  as  better  knowledge  of  the  habits  and  instincts 
of  the  fish,  than  fly-fishing."  He  does  not  refer  to  the  prac- 
tice followed  in  brooks  and  petty  streams,  nor  as  pursued 
after  heavy  rains  in  discolored  waters,  and  goes  on  to  say : 
"My  aflirmation  bears  solely  on  its  practice  as  carried  on 
during  the  summer  months  in  Scotland,  when  the  waters  are 
clear  and  low,  the  skies  bright  and  warm.  Then  it  is,  and 
then  only,  that  it  ought  to  be  dignified  as  sport ;  and  sport 
it  assuredly  is,  fully  as  exciting,  perhaps  more  so  than  angling 
with  the  fly  or  minnow." 

As  I  agree  in  the  method  recommended  by  this  teacher,  I 
will  give  its  principal  features,  and  leave  with  the  angler  to 
decide  in  his  course  of  practice  between  us.  "  The  rod  should 
approach  seventeen  feet  in  length,  but  light,  top  pieces  some- 
what stiff,  of  lance  or  hickory." 

The  common  trouting-line  of  stained  silk  and  hair,  tapering 


RiQ  FOB  Bait-fishing.  195 

from  the  middle  to  each  end,  as  sold  by  our  fishing-tackle 
men,  ,s  the  best.     The  same  may  be  said  of  the  ordinary  click 
reel,  though  it  were  better  did  it  multiply.     "The  casting- 
me  of  silk- worm  gut  should  be  well  tapered,  and  seven 
lengths  of  long  single  gut,  tinged  rather  than  dyed  with  the 
ordmary  decoction  of  logwood  and  alum.     The  knots  should 
be  tied  with  care,  but  not  whipped  with  thread-an  operation 
which  should  be  confined  solely  to  the  upper  joints  of  the 
line.     They  ought  to  be  of  picked  material,  sound,  clear,  and 
fine,  without  flaw  or  fretting." 
•        Hooks  should  be  of  finest  steel,  needle-pointed,  and  either 
the  common  Aberdeen  round  bend,  Hutchinson's  round  bend 
Sproat's  bend,  or  the  Kinsey  bend,  known  as  the  Pennsylva- 
nia trout-hook.     "  Before  attaching  the  snell  or  gut,  file  and 
break  oflTfrom  a  quarter  to  half  an  inch  of  the  shank  which 
18  usually  too  long."    This  I  have  found  best  with  hooks  for 
small  striped  bass,  which  weigh  each  from  half  a  pound  to 
three  pounds.     Tie  on  the  hooks  with  red  silk,  well  waxed 
"Some  worm-fishers  of  celebrity  adopt  a  small  projection  of 
gut  or  bristle,  as  in  the  tackle  used  for  the  stone  fly,"  etc. 

Sinkers  should  be  made  of  split  shot,  from  all  sizes' between 
pigeon  and  buck  shot,  according  to  the  tide  or  current  or 
by  winding  sheet-lead  round  the  line  a  foot  or  more  above 
the  hook.  The  bait  should  play  under  water,  be  kept  mov- 
ing, and  never  allowed  to  sink  to  the  bottom  or  float  on  the 
surface;  and  when  the  current  is  swift,  shot  should  be  dis- 
tributed above  the  regular  sinker  on  the  casting-line. 

The  best  bait-anglers  seldom  use  a  float ;  when  they  do  it 
is  very  small,  only  large  enough  to  float  the  lightest  sinker 
that  will  answer  for  the  water.  Casts  should  be  regularly 
made,  and  the  bait  kept  moving  as  if  it  were  a  fly  under  wa- 
ter ;  or  if  in  the  current  of  a  stream,  should  be  made  to  move 
with  the  current,  as  if  there  were  no  hook  in  it.  The  head 
of  the  worm  should  be  broken  off",  and  the  hook  so  baited 
with  the  remainder  as  to  leave  an  inch  of  the  tail  free  to  plav 
naturally.  ^    ^ 


196 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Of  the  varieties  of  angle-worm,  that  with  rings,  from  five 
to  six  inches  long,  and  about  the  size  of  a  wheat-straw,  is  jJic 
best.  Place  the  lot  dug  for  fishing  in  cold  water  a  little  salt- 
ed, and  leave  them  in  five  minutes ;  then  take  them  out,  and 
place  them  on  a  dry  board  for  ten  minutes.  To  farther  scour 
them,  place  them  in  swamp-moss  which  is  damp,  but  not 
wringing  wet ;  let  them  remain  over  night,  and  next  morning 
go  a-fishing. 

The  grub-worm  is  best  in  streams  after  a  shower,  because, 
beincr  white,  it  shows  best  in  discolored  water.  But  the  best 
bait  of  all  for  trout,  to  my  notion,  is  a  live  shiner.  Large 
trout  will  take  it  in  preference  to  any  other  bait.  As  trout 
do  not  usually  bite  freely  previous  to  a  shower,  it  is  best  to 
bait-fish  in  the  rain,  or  just  after  it  has  ceased.  Fish  know 
by  instinct  when  it  is  going  to  rain,  and  they  fast  until  it  be- 
gins, because  they  expect  the  rain  to  swell  the  stream  and 
bring  down  to  them  all  sorts  of  delicacies;  therefore, as  soon 
as  it  commences  to  rain,  they  take  any  thing  offered  which 
they  can  swallow. 

It  is  the  angler's  duty  and  pleasure  to  study  all  the  pecu- 
liarities of  weather,  with  the  habits  and  haunts  of  trout,  and 
to  practice  upon  them;  for  as  the  bait-fisher  does  not  usu- 
ally whip  all  the  surface  of  the  water,  but  selects  his  places 
to  drop  his  bait,  it  is  necessary  to  know  on  which  side  of  a 
rock  or  los  it  is  natural  for  the  trout  to  lie  in  wait  for  bait. 
The  successful  bait-angler  studies  also  the  condition  of  the 
water,  and  selects  his  favorite  pools,  while  the  fly-fisher  looks 
for  a  gentle  wind  that  will  carry  his  flies  off",  and  trusts  to  his 
skill  and  good  fortune  for  attracting  sport. 

Fly-fishing  possesses  its  peculiar  advantages.  As  a  means 
of  exercise,  it  reaches  just  the  degree  to  brace  the  muscles,  ex- 
ercise the  temper,  enliven  the  spirits,  and  produce  the  alter- 
nations between  hope  and  despair  characterized  as  sport.  It 
encourages  fine  address  and  graceful  attitudes,  produces  ear- 
nestness and  even  enthusiasm,  and  while  the  practice  in  minu- 
tiae is  not  so  close  as  to  pin  the  mind  to  earth,  every  sound  of 


Alone  with  Nature. 


197 


so- 


bird  or  sight  ot  rioM-er  is  enjoyed  by  the  devotee,  and  as  he 
casts  his  eyes  aloft  and  around,  the  eartli  appears  a  paradise, 
and  anglers  the  only  appreciative  recipients  of  its  blessings! 
Hence,  from  tlie  variety  of  emotions  which  entrance  the  mind 
of  the  angler,  men  of  genius  and  learnmg,  especially  those  of 
ideal  temperament,  such  as  poets,  painters,  sculptors,  philoso 
phers,  and  worshipers  of  nature,  become  so  penetrated  witi 
the  beauties  which  surround  its  pursuit,  that  the  cold,  calcu 
lating  outer  world  deems  them  mad  upon  a  trivial  subject. 
But  it  was  owing  solely  to  the  pleasures  which  angling  con- 
fers that  Thomson,  Burns,  Scott,  Hogg,  and  a  host  of  other 
acknowledged  worthies,  succeded  by  Prof.  Wilson,  Words- 
worth, King  Leopold,  Dr.  Bethune,  and  Daniel  Webster,  ea- 
gerly exchanged  the  gray  goose-quill  and  the  fellowship  o*" 
books  for  the  gently-tapering  trout-rod  and  the  music  of  the 
rills  and  cascades,  older  than  the  rhythm  of  Homer,  and  as  at- 
tractive as  the  propositions  of  Socrates.     "Therefore  it  was 
that  Paley  left  his  meditative  home,  and  Davy  his  tests  and 
crucibles,  Chantrey  his  moulds,  models,  and  chisel-work-eacli 
and  all  to  rejoice  and  renovate  themselves,"  and  to  fish  up 
new  ideas  as  with  the  gentle  wand  they  cast  their  lines  in 
pleasant  places,  playing  trout  in  sparkling  waters,  and  enjoy- 
ing a  sportive  recreation  which  ever  fills  the  mind  with  pure 
and  joyous  emotions,  tempered  by  serene  philosophy. 


198 


Fishing  in  American  Watkrs. 


I 


I 


SECTION  SECOND. 

angling  for  children. 

"  Come  when  the  leaf  comes,  angle  with  me, 
Come  when  the  bee  comes  crossing  the  lea ; 
Come  with  the  wild  flowers, 
Come  with  the  mild  showers. 
Come  when  the  singing  bird  calletli  for  thee !" 

Stoddart. 

TRANGE !  I  sometimes  involun- 
tarily ejaculate  when  I  see 
people  economize  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  in  order  to  be  able 
to  support  a  carriage  and  dress 
the  family  fancifully,  to  take 
them  on  a  drive  hi  the  country 
over  dusty  roads  as  an  airing 
and  exercise  for  the  promotion 
of  health. 

Of  course,  exercise  in  the 
open  air  is  necessary  for  the 
^reservation  of  good  health; 
and  a  residence  in  a  city  where 
the  only  breathing-places  are 
its  parks,  or  in  the  few  country 
places  which  are  remote  from 
waters  that  ofter  the  recreation 
of  angling,  there  is  an  excuse 
for  the  next  means  in  the  sim- 
ple catalogue  for  promoting 
and  preserving  health,  which  is 
driving  or  ridhig  on  horseback. 
But  in  our  country  of  broad 
acres  and  free  fishings,  every 
parent  should  teach  his  children  to  angle.  The  sport,  which 
is  not  laborious,  soon  renders  the  young  student  so  ardent  in 
its  pursuit  that  he  will  get  sufficient  exercise,  while  his  mind 


I 


Tempering  youthful  Ambition.  199 

will  be  rendered  logical  by  the  realization  of  cause  and  effect 
and  his  whole  being  will  soon  become  attuned  to  the  harmo- 
nies of  nature.  The  pleasurable  exercise  and  anxieties  in  the 
practice  of  angling  rest  and  recuperate  the  mind,  so  that 
children  are  thereby  enabled  to  commit  their  school  lessons 
to  memory  with  greater  ease,  and  to  understand  them  more 
fully. 

A  small  stream  to  angle  in  from  the  shore,  or  a  pond  to 
row  out  on  and  anchor  the  boat  to  fish  from,  is  a-  great  lux- 
ury which  a  family  should  not  omit  the  enjoyment  of.    I  have 
noticed  with  pleasure  that  the  taste  for  angling  has  been  in- 
creasing annually  for  the  past  ten  years  with  our  ladies.  They 
begin  to  delight  in  fishing  excursions  and  in  the  harmony  of 
angling.     There  is,  therefore,  hope  of  a  large  crop  of  anglers 
from  the  rising  generation.     Twenty  years  ago  there  were 
scarcely  a  dozen  ladies  in  the  metropolis  who  could  scull  a 
boat,  but  now  many  ladies  ply  a  pair  of  sculls  very  grace- 
fully.    With  those  families  settled  near  the  shores  of  the 
numerous  water  approaches  to  New  York,  and  along  Har- 
lem River,  the  taste  is  setting  in  favor  of  light,  buoyant,  com- 
fortable, and  elegant  row-boats;  and  morning  and  evening 
these  boats,  laden  with  joyous  families  of  children,  lend  an 
enlivening  charm  to  the  scene. 

Sometimes  papa  and  mamma  take  the  children  a-fishing 
Whenever  they  do,  they  should  supply  them  with  a  light 
bamboo  rod,  and  attach  at  a  joint  one  tliird  from  the  top  end 
a  very  fine  silk  or  linen  line;  wind  it  a  few  times  round  the 
rod,  and  cast  two  half  hitches  over  the  top  end ;  then  affix  a 
float  according  to  the  depth  of  the  water,  so  that  the  bait  will 
sink  within  six  inches  of  the  bottom,  and  a  foot  above  the 
hook  fasten  to  the  line  from  one  to  three  split  shot.  Let  the 
hook  be  the  minnow  size,  and  the  bait— a  piece  of  angle-worm' 
dug  the  day  previous,  and  laid  in  moss  or  green  grass  over 
night  to  scour,  if  for  small  fresh-water  fishes— should  merely 
cover  the  point  of  the  hook.  Never  bait  with  the  head  of 
the  worm;  always  break  that  off  and  throw  it  in  the  water. 


iwwirft* 


^pp 


200 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Sometimes  it  is  best  to  take  an  extra  supply  of  m  orms,  and 
cut  some  of  them  into  small  pieces  and  throw  them  into  the 
fishing-pool  to  attract  the  fishes  to  the  place  where  you  in- 
tend angling.  The  liver  of  any  animal  is  good  bait  for  sun- 
fish,  shiners,  chubs,  dace,  etc.  If  angling  in  salt-water  for 
white  perch,  smelt,  spearing,  porgees,  and  tomcods,  use  shrimp 
for  bait;  or,  if  they  can  not  be  procured,  use  either  soft  or 
hard  shell  clam.  Rig  the  line  with  only  one  hook,  and  let 
papa  regulate  the  whole  tackle  according  to  the  size  of  the 
fishes  to  be  angled  for. 

Oh !  well  do  I  remember  the  time  when  I  first  essayed  to 
capture  the  finny  beauties  of  the  brook.  I  was  about  seven 
years  old,  and  as  my  father,  who  was  devoted  to  educational 
pursuits,  had  found  both  recreation  and  consolation  in  an- 
gling, he  used  sometimes  to  permit  me  to  accompany  him 
and  carry  his  strings  of  trout,  and  finally  rigged  me  out  with 
a  wand,  line,  and  hook.  The  first  fish  that  I  caught  was  a 
shiner.  The  sensation  caused  by  the  bite  of  the  fish,  and  the 
sight  of  the  trembling  and  shining  beauty  as  I  cast  it  over 
my  head,  and  when  realizing,  by  running  to  my  hook  and 
learning  that  I  had  actually  caught  it,  were  moments  as  in- 
describable as  they  were  ecstatic.  I  was  anxious  to  return 
home  at  once  and  show  the  trophy  to  the  family,  and  was 
not  dissuaded  until  my  larger  comrades  pointed  out  the  pos- 
sibility of  my  taking  a  long  string  of  such  jewels. 

After  practicing  a  season  with  this  light  tackle,  it  will  be 
best  to  procure  regular  perch-tackle,  and  the  next  season  a 
reel  and  trout-rod  may  be  added  to  the  outfit.  Then  grass- 
hoppers will  be  found  the  favorite  bait  for  trout  and  young 
black  bass,  and  small  shiners  and  white  grub- worms  will  be 
found  most  attractive  after  a  shower  for  large  trout,  black 
bass,  perch,  and  now  and  then  a  sand  pickerel,  which  some  of 
the  fishermen  call  dork.  The  lad  will  soon  learn  that  the 
most  rapturous  sport  is  realized  along  a  stream  and  amony 
the  birds  as  they  chirp  and  sing  while  flitting  from  spray  to 
spray,  for  they  rightly  regard  the  young  angler  as  a  friend. 


vna 


First  Sense  of  <       se  and  Effect.  201 

meldvr'i'  '  T'"""  ''      ^'^^  ^^^  ^^^^  -«'^  o^he.  i„ 
melody  to  charm  hini  on.  , 

<1  en  m  the  punt,  when  papa  rows  out  on  the  pond  and  an- 
ors  the  punt,  and  then  baits  the  hooks  and  takes  off  t" 
'sh.     This  IS  the  contemplative  philosopher's  recreation.     It 
iJ'  f^imple,  mnocent,  and  charmino-. 

"Delicious  musings  fill  the  heart,  and  images  of  bliss; 
Ah  I  that  all  pictures  of  the  past  were  innocent  as  this!" 
"Like  distant  music— heard  at  even, 
When  the  gold  light  has  left  the  dj^ing  day- 

Which,  like  some  spirit  song  from  heaven, 
Swells  softly,  then  as  softly  dies  away; 
Yet  dieth  not  away  within  the  soul, 
But  leaves  a  soothing  influence  behind 
That  oft  will  in  our  thoughtful  hours  control 
The  grosser,  worldly  cares  that  crowd  the  mind- 
Just  so  the  thoughts  of  dearest  friends  will  steal 
Over  the  pensive  soul  with  fond  reflections 
And,  waking  slumbering  chords  of  love,  reveal 
Those  hidden  ties  that  bind  our  best  affections ; 
And-goodness  gracious,  bless  me  I-what  a  deal 
Ut  good  It  does  to  have  such  recollections !  "—C  Bede 


202 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


The  Salmon. — Salmo  salar. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SALMON. 

This  is  the  head  of  a  numerous  species,  or  rather  of  many 
families.  The  body  is  covered  with  fine  scales ;  the  fins  are 
all  soft-rayed  except  the  second  dorsal,  which  is  composed  of 
a  soft  adipose  film.  It  has  an  air-bladder  which  extends  the 
whole  length  of  the  abdomen. 

The  genus  Salmo  contains  those  species,  sixch  as  the  salmon 
and  trout,  in  which  the  upper  jaw  is  formed  by  the  superior 
maxillary  bones — the  intermaxillaries  being  small — situated 
between  the  maxillaries.  Usually  these  bones  descend  into 
the  front  of  the  superior  maxillaries,  and  form  the  upp'er 
boundary  of  the  mouth.  The  maxillaries,  palatines,  vomer, 
and  even  the  tongue,  are  furnished  with  teeth.  The  bran- 
chiostegous,  or  gill  rays,  are  about  ten  in  number. 

Numerous  species  of  this  genus  are  found  in  the  seas  of  the 
northern  hemisphere,  one  of  the  largest  of  which  is  the  com- 
mon salmon  {Salmo  salar. — Lin.),  a  fish  too  well  known,  both 
as  to  flavor  and  appearance,  to  require  particular  desci'iption. 
Cuvier  states  that  it  is  found  in  all  the  arctic  seas,  whence  it 
enters  the  rivers  in  the  spring. 

The  Salmo  salar,  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  Isles 
appropriately  distinguish  as  both  "  noble"  and  "  royal,"  be- 
'^ause  it  is  the  fish  which  affords  them  their  highest  degree 
of  sport  in  angling,  according  to  their  estimate  of  the  value 
of  field-sports,  has  been  differently  esteemed  for  its  esculent 
qualities  at  several  periods  in  modern  history,  though  at  no 


Anglers  THE  TRUE  FRIENDS  o    the  Salmon.     203 

time  have  its  gamy  qualities  been  questioned.     In  the  eight- 
eenth century  its  shoals  became  so  numerous  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  guard,  by  a  clause  in  indentures,  against  feed- 
mg  apprentices  with  it  more  than  two  days  in  each  week 
This  was  the  case  in  England  and  in  some  of  its  colonies 
But  from  many  of  our  rivers,  which  teemed  with  salmon  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  this  delicious  and  grace- 
tul  fish  has  been  driven  away ;  and  were  it  not  that-through 
the  efforts  of  a  few  angling  philosophers-the  public  has  be- 
come sufficiently  enlightened  to  see  the  necessity  for  the  em- 
ployment  of  means  to  restock  our  salmon  rivers,  it  would  be 
scarcely  worth  the  time  and  ink  necessary  to  describe  the 
salmon  m  its  varied  aspects  for  the  table,  for  commerce,  and 
as  an  mterestmg  feature  in  the  -ecreative  sports  of  the  coun- 
try. 

But,  thanks  to  a  few  public-spirited  gentlemen,  whose  sci- 
entific discoveries  were  derived  from  experiments  instituted 
at  their  own  expense,  the  recent  reports  of  the  Fisheries  Com- 
missioners of  New  England  show  that  the  waters  are  being 
restocked  with  such  zeal  and  alacrity  that  it  will  not  be  more 
than  five  years  before  most  of  the  rivers  north  of  Pennsylva- 
nia will  be  literally  repeopled  with  salmon.     The  favorable 
prospects  thus  extended,  when  coupled  with  the  generosity 
of  our  Northern  neighbors,  whereby  the  Dominion  permits  us 
to  compete  equally  with  its  own  people  in  the  leasing  of  Ca- 
nadian salmon-waters,  gives  hopeful  promise  that  salmon-fish- 
ing with  the  fly  will  soon  engage  the  atteniion  of  our  anglers 
for  striped  bass  during  June  and  July,  and  thus  add  an  inter- 
esting feature  to  the  sports  of  the  year,  without  trenching 
upon  the  best  season  for  striped-bass  angling. 

The  Highlander  who  stated  that  "  no  man  has  any  right  to 
a  hunter's  badge  who  has  not  killed  a  red  deer,  an  eagle,  a 
salmon,  and  a  seal,"  had  nevor  been  in  America,  or  he  would 
have  made  some  additions  t  ,  his  prerequisites.  If  it  exhilar- 
ates and  even  astonishes  to  ti.Ke  a  salmon  in  the  modest  riv- 
ers of  the  British  Isles,  with  gaffers  as  helpers,  who  know 


204 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


every  cast  in  a  pogl,  what  must  the  sport  be  on  the  large, 
wild,  and  rapid  rivers  of  Canada,  with  no  adequate  help  ? 

Since  we  have  no  other  choice,  if  we  would  go  a  salmon- 
fishing,  but  to  repair  either  to  Scotland,  Ireland,  or  to  the  Do- 
minion of  Canadji,  and  as  several  rivers  in  Canada  are  leased 
by  American  anglers,  and  all  sportsmen  from  the  States  are 
liberally  and  even  courteously  treated  there,  I  should  'give  a 
preference  to  Canadian  salmon-waters  over  those  across  the 
Atlantic,  even  were  the  fishings  offered  at  the  same  price ; 
but  in  the  matter  of  expense,  Canada  is  much  the  most  eco- 
nomical for  our  anglers.    The  fish  are  also  much  larger  on  this 
side  on  an  average,  the  scenery  is  more  majestic,  and  the  riv- 
ers more  graTid.   To  spend  a  summer  month  on  one  of  the  riv- 
ers which  empty  on  the  north  shore  of  tKe  Gulf  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence is  to  rest  the  mind  by  the  most  absolute  exclusion  from 
the  world.     When  I  essayed  the  ascent  of  one  of  the  great 
rivers  which  empty  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  north  of  the 
island  of  Anticosti,  the  world  was  tranquil.     I  rested  there 
free  from  the  news  of  civilization.     For  a  month  I  admired 
the  grandeur  of  the  mountains,  the  majesty  of  the  broad  and 
rapid  river,  the  elegant  play  of  salmon,  and  the  dexterity  of 
the  seals ;  and  at  night  the  brilliancy  of  the  northern  horizon 
and  gcu-geousness  of  the  lunar  bow  enraptured  me.     On  my 
return  down  the  river,  I  was  astonished  to  hear  that  a  great 
war  was  in  progress  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  and  that 
the  cholera  was  raging  in  many  places;  but  I  was  delight- 
fully surprised  to  learn  that  the  Atlantic  telegraph  was  in 
successful  operation,  though  shocked  at  hearing  of  the  dead- 
lock in  Washington  and  the  intention  to  impeach  the  Presi- 
dent.   Neither  of  these  important  topics  were  spoken  of  when 
I  left  New  York  to  visit  the  wilderness  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     I  therefore  advise  those  who  de- 
sire to  unbend  the  mind  and  become  perfectly  Rip  Van  Win- 
klefied,  to  try  the  rejuvenating  effect  of  salmon-fishing  in 
Canada. 
Anglers  of  the  United  States  who  desire  to  fish  a  salmon- 


Pbepaking  to  Staut  for  Salmon. 


205 


river  in  the  dominion  of  Canada  should  club  together  and 
apply  for  the  fluvial  parts  of  rivers.     The  estuary  is  usually 
devoted  to  net-tishing,  but  it  would  be  a  better  plan  to  apply 
for  a  whole  river,  and  then  have  the  estuary  netted  if  prefer- 
red, or  devote  the  whole  river  to  fly-fishing.     As  salmon  do 
not  rise  to  the  fly  in  the  tidal  parts  of  rivers,  if  the  river  is 
well  stocked,  the  company  might  have  the  tidal  part  netted 
with  sweep-nets  to  a  certain  extent,  but  gill-nets  and  other 
nets  fastened  to  ground  fixtures  should  be  avoided.     A  party 
of  four  gentlemen  own  the  lease  of  the  Godbout,  and  permit 
no  netting.     It  is  contrary  to  law  to  fish  on  Sunday  in  any 
part  of  Canada.     The  government  leases  the  rivers  for  a  term 
of  nine  years,  and  the  rivers  unlet  on  the  first  day  of  each 
year  are  advertised  by  the  government  to  be  let  to  the  high- 
est bidders.     The  places  of  residence  of  those  tendering  for 
fishings  are  not  considered  in  letting  a  river,  and  if  a  gentle- 
man of  the  States  overbids  a  Canadian,  the  river  will  be  de- 
clared as  his.     Rivers  are  therefore  hired  by  Europeans  as 
well  as  by  Canadians  and  citizens  of  the  States.    Prior  to  the 
formation  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  out  of  the  provinces, 
the  salmon-rivers  were  under  the  control  of  the  Minister  of 
Crown  Lands ;  but  now  they  are  managed  by  the  Minister 
of  Marine  and  Fisheries,  at  present  the  Hon.  Peter  Mitchell, 
to  whom  all  applications  should  be  made  for  leases  of  rivers. 
Rivers  are  either  let  in  whole  or  in  parts,  each  part  permit- 
ting the  use  of  a  given  number  of  rods,  generally  four.     The 
fluvial  part  of  the  Moisie,  for  example,  is  divided  into  three 
fishings,  the  estuary  being  hired  for  fishing  with  nets.     The 
other  two  parts  accommodate  eight  rods.    Parties,  on  making 
application  to  the  Hon.  P.  Mitchell,  at  Ottawa,  should  state 
what  number  of  rods  they  desire  to  accommodate,  and  on 
v'hich  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  they  prefer  a  river.     He  will 
then  forward  the  applicants  a  list  of  the  rivers  to  be  let,  wath 
such  other  information  as  he  may  deem  necessary  for  their 
guidance.     After  receiving  the  list  of  rivers  and  a  note  of  in- 
formation, they  should  apply  to  some  gentleman  of  the  Do- 


206 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


minion  to  make  the  tender  for  them.  If  necessary,  on  appli- 
cation, I  will  name  a  suitable  person  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  whom  they  may  apply  with  confidence. 

The  course  which  I  recommend  to  gentlemen  of  the  States 
is  pursued  by  sportsmen  of  Canada.     The  prices  for  the  flu- 
vial parts  of  rivers  are  very  modest.     I  belonged  to  a  party 
of  four  anglers  who  hired  the  whole  of  the  fluvial  part  of  a 
first-class  river  for  three  hundred  dollars  for  a  single  season. 
The  leases  of  fluvial  parts  of  rivers  vary  from  two  to  six  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  for  from  three  to  eight  rods;  and  the 
price  for  guides  or  gaffers  is  a  dollar  a  day.    Canoes  and  pro- 
visions are  cheap  there ;  a  first-rate  canoe  may  be  purchased 
for  from  twelve  to  fifteen  dollars ;  and  as  for  desiccated  meats 
and  canned  vegetables,  with  potatoes  and  eggs,  also  wines 
and  diffusible  stimulants,  they  do  not  cost  more  than  half  the 
sum  demanded  for  them  in  the  States.     Then,  as  an  econom- 
ical summer  trip  of  a  month  or  six  weeks,  the  cost  is  less  than 
the  expense  of  staying  at  a  watering-place  hotel,  which  is 
similar  to  a  city  hotel  minus  its  comforts.     If  the  lovers  of 
field-sports  in  the  United  States  can  but  be  induced  to  try 
salmon-fishing,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  rivers  in  the 
States  will  teem  with  the  silver  beauties.     I  have  before  me 
a  score  of  five  weeks'  fishing  in  the  Godbout  for  four  rods. 
The  total  count  was  279  salni*  a,  weighing  3116  pounds,  or  the 
average  weight  of  each  fish  1 U  pounds.     They  did  not  aver- 
age the  use  of  more  than  three  rods  daily,  or  more  than  five 
days  each  week.    I  have  seen  larger  takes,  but  this  is  a  high 
score  for  salmon-fishing  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

As  I  have  stated,  an  application  to  hire  the  fluvial  or  an- 
gling part  of  a  salmon-river  from  the  government  of  the  Do- 
minion is  to  be  for  the  term  of  nine  years,  and  the  prices  of 
the  rivers  must  necessarily  advance  as  anglers  multiply  in 
numbers  and  America  increases  'n  wealth ;  for  salmon-fish- 
ing, on  the  list  of  recreations  which  most  deeply  interest  cul- 
tivated men,  is  esteemed  a  high  art. 


To  Kenew  our  Youth. 


LOT 


SECTION  SECOND. 

OUTFIT  FOR   SALMON-FISHING. 

1  tent,  either  a  marquee,  wall-tent,  or  a  common  circular 
tent. 

2  rubber  blankets. 
2  head-nets. 

1  musquito-bar. 

1  pair  wading  trowsers,  water-jiroof  and  large. 

1  water-proof  overcoat,  large  and  light. 

1  oil-cloth  coat  and  pants,  to  wear  when  fishing  in  the  rain. 

2  pairs  of  pegged  army  shoes  for  wading. 
6        "       heavy  woolen  half  hose. 

1  pair  of  heavy  woolen  blankets. 

1  rubber  bag,  large  size. 

1  rubber  pillow. 

1  pint  aqua  ammonia,  for  applying  to  bites  of  black  flies, 
for  preventing  the  secondary  effect  of  swelling. 

1  small  case  of  medicines. 
•  To  guard  against  being  bitten  by  black  flies  and  musqui- 
toes,  carry  a  bottle  of  castor-oil  mixed  with  a  strong  tincture 
of  camphor.  Some  salmon-angle'-s  employ  a  composition  of 
tar  and  camphor,  which  gives  them  the  tawny  tint  of  the  In- 
dian, though  it  is  one  of  the  best  protections  against  flies. 
The  black  fly  is  the  worst  during  daytime,  while  the  musqui- 
toes  and  gnats  begin  their  depredations  at  sundown  and  con- 
tinue until  sunrise.  Your  gaffer  should  fumigate  your  tent 
every  night  before  you  retire  with  a  smudge  smoke.  Both 
the  head-net  and  musquito-bar  should  be  used  every  night. 

For  constant  wear,  day  and  night,  supply  yourself  with  a 
pair  of  woolen  gloves  extending  near  to  the  elbows,  worn 
over  the  coat  sleeve  and  held  up  by  an  elastic  strap ;  or  sew 
a  pair  of  cotton  stocking-legs  to  the  wrists  of  a  pair  of  gloves, 
either  dogskin,  buckskin,  or  close  and  thick  woolen  gloves. 

A  trip  to  Canada  for  salmon-fishing  would  be  the  gem  of 
the  year  for  all  anglers,  and  even  summer  excursionists,  Avere 


208 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


It  not  for  the  flies ;  yet  they  are  no  worse  there  thun  they  are 
in  the  Adirondacks,  nor  so  bad  as  they  are  in  the  wilds  of 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire. 

A  fishing-hat  like  No.  1  is  formed  of  two  parts,  like  2  and 
3,  the  latter  setting  on  the  band  of  2  so  that  the  vents  will 
not  meet,  but  the  outer  ones  alternate  with  the  under  ones 
just  above  the  brim.  The  edge  of  3  is  tacked  down  on  the 
brim,  which  leaves  a  space  between  that  and  the  upright  part 
of  2  of  half  an  inch  or  more,  and  cover  the  sewing  to  the 
brim  with  a  band.  The  ventilation  of  thishat  is  excellent. 
The  hat  is  known  by  name  as  the  Gibraltar  hat,  while  others 
call  it  the  Calcutta  hat.  It  is  usually  made  of  drab  felt,  and 
worn  as  an  undress  hat  by  European  military  officers  when 
doing  duty  in  warm  climates.  It  is  unquestionably  the  best 
ventilated  hat  made,  except  those  from  India,  woven  from 
grass  or  platted  from  bamboo ;  but  the  felt  ones  are  the  best 
in  shape,  and  lighter  than  the  real  Indian  hat. 


■0- 


Fishing-hat  ani>  Salmon-uod. 


2  Salmon  Rods, — The  salmon-rod  of  four  joints  is  indica- 
ted by  Nos.  4, 5, 6,  7.  The  two  upper  joints  are  spliced  with 
a  small  ring  covering  the  end  of  each,  as  directed  for  the 
modern  splice  illustrated  on  another  page.  The  following 
explanation  I  think  worthy  the  attention  of  fly-fishers : 


An  excellent  Rod.  '  209 

"  «i«»-^^ot  the  least  pleasure  of  the  angler  consists  in 
looking  back  upon  the  summer-time  when  he  'wandered 
dreamily  away  up  among  the  hills  by  the  side  of  a  tiny  beck 
new  to  the  angler,  with  no  sound  but  the  plover  or  the  cur- 
lew, or  the  distant  tinkle  of  the  bell-wether;  no  incumbrance 
but  a  light  rod;  no  bother  about  what  flies  will  or  will  not 
HUit ;  no  tackle  beyond  a  yard  of  gut  and  two  or  three  hooks 
m  a  piece  of  brown  paper;  a  small  bag  of  moss  with  well- 
scoured  worms  within ;  a  sandwich  or  cold  mutton  Chop- 
in   ^^""•/^^•.Pr^f'f^'^^^^e-in  one  pocket,  and  a  flask  of  the 
dew     tha    shines  m  the  starlight  when  kings  dinna  ken  in 
the  other  "  etc.,  etc. ;  and  when  autumn,  with  its  bracing  air 
succeeded  summer,  to  the  wild,  excited,  yet  concentrated 
thril  that  shot  through  his  frame  when  he  hooked  the  « lord- 
ly salmon,"  and  which  lasted  till  he  could  say  to  h  mself  "Tt 
IS  my  turn  now;  you  shall  not  have  all  your  own  way  ^ith 

"^'^"<^h  have  been  my  feelings  this  cold,  Stormy  winter  even- 
mg,  as  I  sat  over  a  cosy  fire  in  my  easy-chair.    I  felt  inclined 
to  good  fellowship  with  all  anglers,  especially  such  of  them 
as  have  arrived  at  my  time  of  life,  when  they  naturally  look 
back  to  what  they  have  been  in  preference  to  what  they  are 
now,  but  are  still  fond  of  the  sport  when  stength  and  oppor- 
tumty  allow  of  following  it.     For  the  especial  benefit  of  the 
latter,  if  you  and  they  think  it  worth  accepting,  I  have  turned 
to  my  writing-case  to  give  you  the  particulars  of  a  light  sal- 
raon-rod,  equally  good  for  worm  or  salmon  fishing,  which  I 
got  made  at  home  last  year. 

"Its  weight  is  n  lb.  ;  length,  15*  feet;  first  fish  killed 
with  It,  18  lbs.  weight. 

"The  first  week  in  September  this  season  I  hooked  and 
killed  a  male  fish,  17  lbs.,  and  hooked  and  killed  on  successive 
days  seven  fish,  aggregate  weight  nearly  90  lbs.,  without  los- 
ing any  thing  once  hooked.  Two  or  three  had  the  sea-lice 
on  them-one  especially,  a  ISj-pounder,  which  for  running 
jumping,  wheeling  round  and  round  in  circles,  shaking  iu 


aio 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


head,  and  lashing  the  water  with  its  tail,  exceeded  any  thing 
I  ever  had  on.  An  old  angler  who  was  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  and  has  himself  killed  above  fifty  salmon  this 
season,  said  it  was  the  wildest  fish  he  ever  saw. 

"  Well,  not  to  be  prolix,  I  give  you  the  result  of  many 
hours'  study  in  few  words,  prefacing  thi.'n  with  the  observa- 
tion that  the  rod  is  as  straight  and  serviceable  now  as  when 
first  made,  and  has  never  failed  or  needed  repair. 

"For  the  butt,  5f  feet  of  well-seasoned,  selected  memel, 
with  the  fibre  of  the  wood  running  straight  in  the  direction 
of  the  rod ;  if  these  conditions  are  not  observed  the  wood  is 
useless.  For  the  middle  piece,  4}  feet  of  selected  ash.  For 
top,  4i  feet  of  lancewood.  The  memel  butt  is  brass-hooped, 
has  good  strong  brass  hoops  for  the  wheel,  and  is  joined  to 
the  ash  middle-piece  with  the  usual  brass  ferrule.  The  lance- 
wood top  and  ash  middle-piece  are  joined  with  a  new  splice, 
which  is  superior  to  the  ferrule  joining  for  its  lightness,  im- 
possibility of  any  shifting,  and  the  quickness  with  which  it 
is  put  together.  This  is  the  'modern  splice  for  fly-rods,' 
which  is  illustrated  and  described  on  page  160,  under  the 
head  of'Trouting  Tackle.' 

"  There  are  twenty  rings,  giyiduatmg  in  size  from  the  butt 
to  the  top,  including  the  top  ring,  which  is  just  large  enough 
to  allow  the  line  to  run  freely.  Proper  ringing  of  a  rod  dis- 
tributes the  weight  of  a  fish  equally  over  it  until  it  comes  to 
the  ring  on  the  butt  end.  The  rod  graduates  from  the  butt 
end  to  the  top,  is  neither  stiff"  nor  supple,  and  throws  a  long 
line.  The  weight  of  the  whole  rod  will  give  an  idea  of  the 
thickness  of  each  piece. 

"  I  wish  to  draw  especial  attention  to  the  material  of  lie 
butt,  the  ringing,  and  the  new  splice.  This  new  form  oi 
splice  obviates  the  only  objections  (loss  of  time  in  tying, 
loosening  of  splice  during  use,  and  the  wearing  of  the  ends 
of  the  splice)  against  a  spliced  rod,  and  renders  it  incompar- 
ably superior  to  a  'i.  I'uled  rod." 

Francis  Fi^avh    ;ut- '■  that  "the  best  wood  is  unquestion- 


IVluTUAL  Congratulations. 


223 


I  just  touch  the  bite  with  ammonia,  and  it  gives  me  no  pain, 
and  never  swells.  The  black  flies  do  not  trouble  you  after 
dark,  and  that's  a  great  comfort." 

I  saw  a  few  signs  of  defaced  beauty,  but  kept  mum.  In 
fact,  on  looking  upon  those  two  ladies,  I  felt  proud  of  such 
specimens.  One  of  them  had  visited  most  of  the  courts  of 
Europe,  and  the  other  had  accompanied  her  triumphant  hus- 
band throughout  our  recent  great  war.  We  therefore  num- 
bered six  in  the  party,  two  ladies  and  four  gentlemen;  and  I 
am  bound  to  acknowledge  that,  throughout  our  month  of 
camp  life,  hundreds  of  miles  from  a  post-oflice,  the  ladies  ex- 
emplified the  highest  degree  of  spirit  and  pleasure, ^ith  the 
least  appearance  of  annoyance  at  any  discomfort;  and  these 
were  the  two  first  white  ladies. that  ever  ascended  the  great 
St.  John  River. 

Having  examined  the  surroundings,  and  admired  the  great 
contrasts  of  the  heavens  with  the  mountains,  and  the  wide, 


-4 


^ 


2M 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


rapid,  roaring  river  with  its  tributary  of  Rattling  R;;n,  and 
while  I  was  beginning  to  scan  the  lay  of  the  grounds  for  de- 
ciding where  to  pitch  tents,  behold  our  comrades !  They 
came  fishing  along,  towing  four  salmon  on  the  gaff,  while 
the  general  played  a  fifteen-pounder  all  the  way  down  from 
the  falls,  a  mile  up  the  river. 

It  having  become  midday,  we  compared  notes  and  took 
dinner.  At  dinner  we  discussed  the  almighty  salmon  in  all 
his  aspects — from  his  seclusion  in  corners  of  the  earth,  where 
he  is  protected  by  flics  and  an  almost  impenetrable  wilder- 
ness, to  his  high  game,  and,  finally,  the  epicurean  appearance 
he  lends  to  the  ainner-tablo.     Our  dinner  consisted  of 

Saumon  il  la  maitre  cVhotel. 

Saunion  frit. 

Saumon  au  gratin. 

tTaniOo^i  briilee. 

Les  07'^nons  de  Bermnde. 

Biscuit  de  mer. 

Le  X>ain  et  du  beurre. 

Du  the  et  du  sucre. 

Having  twenty -seven  miles  of  rapids  against  which  to 
transport  our  stores,  our  potatoes  and  our  claret  were  left  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  besides  our  desiccated  meats,  soups, 
vegetables,  and  fruits  preserved  in  cans.  Even  our  old  Ja- 
maica rum  was  left,  and  the  only  diifusible  stimulant  was  gin 
—Holland  gin !  But,  in  order  that  our  coffee,  milk,  and  the 
numerous  luxuries  laid  in  for  the  campaign  should  be  on 
hand  for  the  glorious  Fourth  of  July,  we  divided  our  men 
and  canoes,  half  to  transport  our  provisions  from  the  mouth 
to  the  camps,  and  the  other  half  to  serve  in  the  way  of  pad- 
dling us  to  our  places  for  angling,  gafling  our  salmon,  and 
pitching  our  tents,  waiting  on  us,  cooking,  etc. 

The  general  and  the  doctor  had  so  excited  my  friend  the 
banker  and  myself  with  stories  of  captivating  sports,  that, 
immediately  after  dinniir,  we  hardly  thought  of  a  cigar,  but 


Peepaeiho  fob  the  Encounter. 


226 
forth«^th  commenced  .plicing  oar  rods.    To  save  mo  that 

-.  .*rM,r  :r:xtt^t\:t.tdt 

.-de  me  sit  down  i„  the  river  to  ooo.  0^:1: UH:' tilt 

-•endor  it  captivating  in  tl,at  wide  anr/apiZivor  T  7 
m,rcd  the  rivor;  the  breaks  of  salmon  of  from  to    to  twonf ' 

-.e^niLrrSr];:!--:!-^^^^^^^^^^ 

pectcd  the  salmon  were  waiting  for  Cml  '  *"  '" 

can  had  retnrnod  to  the  m„„  h  o  I  •  "'"'f "'  "'  """" 
again  examined  mv  teckr  I,  ,  f  "iV"''  i'™"™''s,I 
fish  average  from  ei!ht     '  .hi,  T"  """'«'"  ^'"""'^ 

Lave  take?  a  fo^lnd  ,t  ITl         T''  ""'y'  »""  ' 

striped  bass  was  /sCg  1 L7;  Lc TeL':' •  '"^'""""^  ''"^ 
silk-worm  gut "  '  '"""  ''  '"  ™'y  ^  single 

».  .0  examined  t..aarn;raS:sC:^rht'r  7' 

cast,  abont  half  a,  ll; the?,  7  '"'""'  '  ''""  "'  -"h 
Tl-e  fish  did  not  tl  t  J  y  auZ"  T"''',  "^  '""• 
tVom  beneath,  but  ro.so  over  th,  I  1  f  '^  ""'""S  "'  " 
H,.  «n„„„       •       :  '"""y  .'"'J 'ook  it  ongoing  back 

Ho  soon  convinced  mo  th»t  he  was  thor,.  1.       •    •        ? 

••...ove  water,  and  ont  fanhonntor  :::er;;rt,:::r::: 


226 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


was  stronger. 


When  he  leaijed,  as  he  did  numerous  times,  I 
lowered  the  top  of  my  rod  as  if  bowing  to  his  mandate.  By- 
and-by  he  suffered  himself  to  be  reeled  up  quite  near  me,  no 
doubt  because  his  curiosity  prompted  liim  to  study  the  cause 
of  his  difficulty,  and  to  try,  if  possible,  to  reach  its  source.  In 
the  mean  time  I  was  snouting  for  some  man  to  come  and  gaff 
my  salmon. 

After  having  scanned  "  tho  head  and  front  of  the  offend- 
ing," he  turned  and  ran  off  moderately  until  he  arrived  in  the 
swiftest  part  of  tlie  current,  and  then  all  I  could  do  would 
not  stop  him.     I  Avas  therefore  obliged  to  follow,  and  down  1 
started  along  the  stony  shore  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  when  I 
became  fatigued ;  and,  as  if  to  spell  me,  the  fish  halted  and 
remained  until  he  rested  long  enough,  and  then  he  rose  and 
made  a  quadrilateral  leap,  or  four  leaps  in  as  many  directions 
at  the  same  time.     Said  I, "  My  chap,  you  are  some  !"  "  How 
many  lives  have  you  got,  anyhow  ?"  thought  I.     But  there 
was  no  use  of  thinking  or  speculating,  for  he  had  mounted  his 
high  horse  again,  and  down  the  river  I  had  to  follow.     My 
extemporized  gaffer  advised  me  to  snub  him.     I  replied  that 
I  had,  but  it  was  of  no  use.     Presently  he  halted  again,  and, 
drenched  with  perspiration,  I  doffed  my  head  fly-net  and  pre- 
pared to  do  battle  in  open  air.     It  was  not  long  before  he 
gathered  strength  again,  and  started  for  the  middle  of  the 
river ;  but  a  little  harder  play  coaxed  him  to  change  his  mind. 
He  then  began  leaping  and  cavorting,  as  if  he  wtus  only  in 
fun  all  the  time,  and  had  as  lief  as  not  come  in  out  of  the  wet. 
In  a  few  more  turns,  the  gaffer  made  a  pass  at  the  fish  and 
missed  him.     The  fish  then  showed  great  vigor,  and  acted  as 
if  he  would  never  say  die;  but  after  several  efforts  the  gaffer 
brought  him  up,  and  he  weighed  only  twelve  pounds. 

With  perspiration  rolling  down  me  and  not  a  little  fii- 
tigued,  I  started  back  to  where  I  hooked  the  salmon  and  com- 
menced casting  for  another.  It  was  not  long  before  I  liookcd 
him,  and  without  much  make-believe  he  started  down  the 
river  and  I  after  liim.     Presently  he  waited  to  rest,  and  then 


Goma  THROUGH  A  Course  of  Sprouts.  227 

eat  fpt  "do^"  h'  '"^  "'"*'  *''^  "'^'"'^'' "»  «'"^<^  >^ 


He  weighed  within  a 


mile  below  wliere  I  had  hooJed  him 
pound  of  as  much  as  the  first  one      ' 
Again  I  retraced  my  steps  to  the  head  of  the  pool  to  when- 

ontly  he  slackened  speed,  and  even  ston,W  f^      i   ^ 
against  a  .ook,  a,u,  U,.  t^I^^    el'I^o  .Ir; 
the  0  wove  merely  casual  experiment.  ,o  wl.ot  Im  i,,.    ',   " 


ith  his  other  hand  hnhl: 


leg,  the  pig  too  1 


lar<> 


"g  a  rope  fastened  to  a  pig's 


0  for  Pat  to  control.     About  that  time 


1 1 


!      I 

I      i 


228 


Fishing  in  Ami<;rican  Waters. 


did  not  think  of  black  flies,  nor  rocks  and  sore  shins.  My 
friend  sometimes  generously  came  near  shore,  and  once  I 
thought  I  saw  him  throw  his  tail  up,  as  a  sure  sign  of  grow- 
ing weakness,  but  it  was  all  sham.  He  was  only  studying 
my  tackle,  and  his  means  of  escape  by  parting  it.  He  was 
up  near  the  gaff  several  times,  and  eyed  the  instrument  crit- 
ically, but  with  a  whirl  of  astonishment  akin  to  anger  and 
disdain,  as  if  in  this  age  of  negro  suft'rage  a  man  so  cruel 
could  be  found  as  to  fight  salmon  with  so  unequal  and  hide- 
ous a  weapon.  But  he  curled  on  the  water,  and  while  he 
touched  his  nose  with  the  end  of  his  tail,  ho  looked  askance 
for  an  instant ;  then  he  made  a  prodigious  leap  down  stream, 
:?nd  planged  some  ten  feet  under  water  and  came  up  five 
rods  above,  thus  forming  a  bight  in  the  line,  by  which  he  ex- 
pected to  gain  slack  and  extricate  himself  But  it  Avas  all  no 
go.  I  thought  he  was  mine,  and  preserved  great  care  lest  he 
should  unhook  while  bringing  him  to  the  gaff.  He  came  for- 
ward as  willing  as  a  pet  lamb  until  within  three  rods  of  shore ; 
he  then  made  a  turn,  and  with  dips,  dives,  leaps,  and  other 
'devices,  liberated  himself,  and  took  my  fly-hook  with  him.  I 
felt  wilted ;  worse,  I  was  outgeneraled ;  worse  still,  I  was 
vanquished.  I  once  more  mechanically  walked  nearly  a  mile 
to  the  foot  of  the  rapid,  but  I  could  not  cast  with  hope  and 
confidence,  and,  as  the  sun  was  about  setting  and  the  musqui- 
toes  began  their  carnival,  I  repaired  to  the  tent  and  to  sup- 
per, used  up,  though  partially  successful. 

Thus  ended  my  first  afternoon's   angling  for  salmon  in 
Lower  Canada. 

SECTION  FIFTH. 

tenting  in  the  wilderness. 

Our  guides  had  pitched  our  tents,  and  carpeted  them  witli 
fir -boughs  which  they  clipped  from  the  shrubbery  back- 
ground of  the  plateau.  My  bed  consisted  of  two  breadths 
six  and  a  half  feet  long  of  canvas,  closed  by  a  seam  length- 
p  tlie  centre,  and  hemmed  six  inches  wide  at  each  side 


«r<tj'"»    " 


■....4 


A   BKFRPJSHING   LlXUKY. 


22J* 


reived  to  fasten  the  poles  to,  thus  forming  a  canvas  bed  6^ 
feet  long,  3  feet  wide,  and  a  foot  above  the  carpet  or  ground 
of  the  tent.  If  preferred,  the  foot-log  need  not  be  so  large  I. 
the  head  one;  only  have  regard  to  stretching  your  bed  hi..h 
enon,^h  to  admit  the  circulation  of  air  under  it.  The  follow 
mg  .ketch  may  help  illustrate. 


Camp  Bed. 

The  guides  had  also  cut  the  poles  and  inserted  them  in  the 
hems  of  the  canvas,  which  I  bought  and  brought  with  me 
from  Quebec,  and  with  stretchers  across  the  ends  of  the  can- 
vas, they  had  fastened  my  bed  to  the  head  and  foot  logs 
made  my  bed,  and  had  built  a  smudge  fire  in  front  of  my 
tent.  Oh,  how  refreshing  the  aroma  of  a  tent  carpeted  with 
hr-boughs!  no  one,  without  experience,  can  properly  apnre- 
ciate  the  luxury.  ^ 

After  a  social  supper,  we  convened  in  a  circle  around  t})e 
smudge  fire  before  my  tent  to  discuss  the  mighty  salmon 
and  to  mform  the  ladies  of  the  changes  in  the  fashions  up  to 
the  day  we  left,  being  a  week  after  their  departure.     Of 
course  the  changes  had  been  considerable,  and  the  gentle- 
men's forty-eight  hours'  advance  in  studying  the  peculiarities 
of  the  salmon  there  had  entitled  them  to  the  honors  of  Men- 
torship.     So,  after  summing  up  and  being  summed  up,  and 
the  tent  smoked  o.  t  with  a  smudge  fire  on  a  piece  of  birch 
bark,  I  laid  my  rubber  blanket  on  the  bed,  and  was  soon 
dreammg  that  I  had  captured  the  beautiful  salmon  that  I 
had  played  so  long,  and  was  being  serenaded  l)y  all  the  oth- 
er milt  salmon  for  ridding  them  of  the  dandy  of  the  river 
Being  vociferously  called  on  for  a  speech,  it  so  shocked  my 
nervos  that  I  awoke,  and  the  light  peering  in  through  the  in- 
terstices of  my  tent,  I  forthwith 


arose  for  the  morning. 


230 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


n 


"The  little  landscape  round 
Was  green  and  woody,  and  refreshed  the  eye  ; 
It  was  a  spot  wliieh  you  might  aptly  call 
The  Valley  of  Seclusion." 

Bright  and  beautiful  was  tlio  weather,  and  the  two  birds 
whicli  charm  the  mornings  of  that  wilderness  wild  were  pip- 
ing their  mellifluous  notes,  while  the  only  responses  heard 
were  the  snores  of  our  guides  in  a  one-sided  bark  shanty, 
where  they  lay  on  fir-boughs,  toasting  their  feet  before  a 
smudge  fire.  As  it  appeared  to  be  about  seven  o'clock,  I  was 
surprised  to  see  not  a  soul  moving.  I  walked  a  few  rods  to 
the  river,  where  I  watched  admiringly  the  salmon's  leap,  but 
looked  in  vain  for  a  seal.  After  having  been  up  nearly  an 
hour,  and  perceiving  that  friends  and  guides  were  still  asleep, 
I  concluded  to-  call  up  the  gaffers  and  cidsinier,  or  cook.  As 
our  cook  was  perfectly  innocent  of  any  language  but  a  lui- 
miek  patois^  by  which  tongue  potatoes  or  pommes  de  terre 
are  known  as  potack,  of  course  I  found  it  difticult  to  make 
him  understand  either  English  or  French,  and  that  is  an  un- 
pardonable fliult  in  a  cook. 

Well,  as  they  lay  snoring,  and  not  one  awake,  I  thought  I 
would  see  what  time  it  was  before  arousing  them ;  and  on 
consulting  my  watch,  I  learned  that  it  was  precisely  half  past 
three  o'clock !  Well,  said  I,  sotto  voce,  this  is  a  strange  coun- 
try, and,  lest  I  should  disturb  my  lodging  comrades,  I  re- 
clined outside  the  tent,  and  tried  to  take  another  nap ;  but 
the  black  flies  had  also  awoke,  and  began  paying  their  dis- 
tresses to  me,  much  to  the  sacrifice  of  an  amount  of  beauty 
too  scant  to  lose  any  without  an  exposure  of  its  want.  I  re- 
monstrated at  the  presentation  of  bills  at  such  an  unseason- 
able hour,  but  they  only  shouted  the  louder,  and  called  to- 
gether so  great  a  number  as  to  oblige  me  to  decamp.  I 
therefore  resorted  to  Kattling  Run  to  take  a  bath.  While 
bathing  it  was  all  very  Avell,  but  between  undressinji  and 
dressing  they  took  me  at  a  disadvantage,  and  by  both  nius- 
(piitoes  and  black  flies  I  was  decidedly  worsted.     On  mv  re- 


Y'lELDINO    TO   ClK0l'M6TANCEe.  231 

»nore,  tl,c  noisos  of  hares,  porcupines,  and  squirrels  in  the 
^  ove  hard  by,  and  the  two  songsters  singing  so  .ner^Sy  a 
to  dr         .„,       ,  i„  „,^„^  _^__^^_  .^^^^     Sn^examining  ™; 
«atcl^  I  learned  that  it  was  five  o'clock.    I  the.-efore  deter- 
mined  on  arousing  the  cook  and  the  gaffers.     They  Ce 

...n  s  n,  the  river,  and  that  was  all  the  toilet-making  needed 
or  they  had  slept  with  their  boots  and  shoes  on  as  protee-' 
on  against  flies.     John,  the  captain  of  the  gang  becaCof 
Ins  superior  Milesian  intelligence,  who  could  sLk  cZllv 

lo^el  had  been  the  custom  under  Dr.  Bluff,  of  the  First  Fiisi 
oe.^  or  any  gentleman  who  had  prcviousi;  fished  that  it" 

We    then  l"r   TT'  V°  ™'"""'""  «*'"S  "«'»-  ■>-.' 
Well,  then,  I  replied,  we  Yankees  will  teach  you  a  new  lesson 

But,  upon  aseertaining  that  my  friends  were  opposed  to  ri"' 

S^^Tc  :k"s'^'°.  1  "■•^■"""•"^''^  y^oidedfand  ti,:;:. 

toi  ward  the  cook  and  gmdcs  suited  their  own  comfort  about 

toes.  "'  '"    ''™''  ""=  '''"'''"'  "f"'"  "'"^q'"- 

But  it  seemed  that  the  noise  caused  from  mustering  the 
men  had  aw.akcned  the  doctor,  who  crawled  out  of  his  t 
with  modest  eare  for  fear  of  arousing  the  other  two  inmate 
when  he  mildly  saluted  me  with  "  G^od  mornh,gn,reame 
your  eye  out?"    I  replied  that  my  eyes  were  ^^od    nZh 
to  perceive  that  three  or  four  bites  from  black  flies  had 
.  .anged  his  phi.  into  a  picture  of  a  Chinese  monstl ity 
^  ou  don't  say  so !"  he  ejaculated     "  Where  ?"    I  pointed 

g  them  he  forthwith  applied  ammonia  to  the  bites,  and 
bathed  mine  also  with  it. 

Smudge  fires  were  at  once  made  before  our  tents  and  ex- 
temporized breakfast-plaee.  Our  euisinier  was  soon  cn^tTd 
.'l  fr.v.ng  pork  and  Bermuda  onions,  broiling  salmon,  mlwng 


232 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


tea,  etc.,  etc.  As  we  had  not  tasted  potatoes  in  a  week,  we 
began  to  long  for  them.  Our  table  was  set,  and  breakfast 
about  ready,  when  the  general  and  the  banker  made  their 
appearance  with  their  ladies,  and,  after  mutual  salutations, 
we  all  seated  ourselves  for  breakfast.  Our  plates  and  dishes 
were  composed  of  cast-iron  outside  and  porcelain  inside;  and, 
though  nearly  as  beautiful  as  sets  and  dishes  of  figured  china, 
they  were  as  durable  as  iron,  and  just  the  kind  that  should 
be  adopted  for  kitchen  use  in  the  metropolis.  By  each  plate 
a  stone  about  the  size  of  a  goose-egg  was  placed,  to  use  in 
cracking  our  sea-biscuit.  Good  sea-biscuit  is  much  better 
than  common  bread  in  the  wilderness,  and  when  cracked  uj) 
and  crumbled  into  a  bowl  of  tea,  or,  by  being  first  dipped  into 
cold  water  to  soften  it,  is  afterward  fried  in  the  fat  of  the 
pan  after  pork  and  eggs,  is  excellent,  especially  in  the  absence 
of  potatoes. 

I  was  almost  shocked  on  perceiving  that  the  right  eye  of 
the  banker's  lady  was  closed,  and  a  large  lump  on  her  left 
temple,  almost  spoiling  her  beauty ;  but  I  did  not  allude  to 
it  until  she  mentioned  that  the  flies  had  somewhat  disfig- 
ured me,  when  I  asked  her  how  she  had  rested.     She  replied, 
"  Very  well ;  but  this  morning,  while  bathing  my  face,  I  found 
that  I  had  a  large  lump  on  the  left  side  of  it,  and  my  right 
eye  felt  fatty.     I  called  to  ray  husband,  and  asked  him  what 
it  was.     He  replied  by  asking  me  to  shut  my  left  eye  and 
look  at  him  with  my  right  one,  and  when  I  obeyed  he  said 
he  was  surprised,  for  my  right  eye  appeared  to  be  enthely 
closed.     Neither  my  eye  nor  my  face  pain  me  at  all,  but  the 
general's  lady  has  applied  ammonia  to  the  bites,  and  I  expect 
nothing  more  serious  from  them.     Hereafter  I  shall  wear  my 
head-net  night  and  day,  and  my  Esquimaux  boots."    I  com- 
plimented her  philosophy,  and  imitated  her  example  by  wear- 
ing boots  every  night  for  a  month,  though  fishing  in  shoes 
and  wet  trowsers,  and,  on  returning  to  the  tent  twice  a  day, 
doffing  my  wet  clothes,  and  rubbing  down  with  a  crash  tow- 
el, and  substituting  dry  clothes  and  boots  until  ready  to  start 


New  Course  of  Tkaining. 


23a 


for  the  nver  again,  when  I  would  doff  the  dry  clothes  and  re- 
place them  by  wet  wading  ones  and  shoes,  with  thick  woolen 
half  hose— sometimes  two  pairs— in  a  very  large  pair  of  shoes. 
Wide-soled  pegged  bottoms  are  the  best.     This  changing  of 
dresses  was  our  daily  mochts  operandi;  and  I  waded,  bathed, 
changed  dress,  whipped,  played  salmon,  and  was  bitten  by 
tiies  until  I  reduced  my  weight  more  than  twenty  pounds. 
I  therefore  suggest  salmon-angling  as  the  best  training  that 
a  person  can  indulge  in  whose  adiposity  preponderates.    This 
system  has  the  advantage  of  "  Banting  on  Corpulence,"  be- 
cause, while  it  reduces  the  amount  of  fat  or  adipose  matter, 
it  hardens  the  muscles,  and  thus  improves  the  wind  and  phys- 
ical power  of  a  man.     If  a  person  desires  training  so  as  to 
endure  great  flitigue,  and  render  him  more  active  and  supple, 
I  advise  him  to  forthwith  apply  for  a  salmon-river;  and,  aft- 
er having  secured  a  lease  of  it  for  the  usual  term  of  nine 
years,  to  send  a  good,  trusty  man  there  next  April,  and  let 
him  employ  a  couple  of  Canadian  half-breeds,  buy  a  couple 
of  bark  canoes,  to  be  had  for  fifteen  dollars  each,  and  let  your 
man  build  a  couple  of  log  huts  at  the  foot  of  each  of  the  prin- 
cipal rapids  or  falls,  and  let  him  cover  them  well  with  birch 
bark,  and  line  them  throughout  with  the  bark,  so  as  to  keep 
out  the  flies.     A  chimney  is  quite  unnecessary,  as  a  smudge 
fire  in  the  middle  of  the  cabin  will  keep  the  flies  away,  if 
musquito-netting  covers  each  window  or  aperture  loft  to  ad- 
rait  light.     Then  I  should  advise  visiting  the  river  as  early 
as  the  15th  of  June,  and  angling  until  the  end  of  July.    This 
plan  will  insure  a  month  of  good  fishing,  and  no  trouble 
fr    n  the  effects  of  flies  worth  naming.     In  fact,  it  will  un- 
bend the  mind,  invigorate  the  body,  and  renew  your  lease 
of  life. 

Of  biting  flies,  the  following,  written  by  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec  while  on  a  journey  up  the  Red  River,  in  his  "Songs 
of  the  Wilderness,"  is  truthfully  expressive : 


/ 


if 

I 

4 


II  ' 


'2M  Fishing  in  American  Waters. 

' '  Among  the  plagues  on  earth  which  God  has  sent. 

Of  lighter  torment  is  the  plague  of  Hies : 
Not  as  of  Egypt  once  the  punishment, 

Yet  such  sometimes  as  feeble  i)atience  tries. 
Where  wild  America  in  vastness  lies, 

There  diverse  hordes  the  swamps  and  woods  infest. 
Banded  or  singly,  these  make  man  their  prize ; 

Quick  by  their  subtle  dart  is  blood  expressed 
Or  tumor  raised.     By  tiny  foe  distressed, 

Travelers  in  forest  rude  with  veil  arc  fain 
To  arm  the  face ;  men  there  whose  dwellings  rest 

Crouch  in  thick  smoke;  like  help  their  cattle  gain.* 
Oh  wise  in  trials  great,  in  troubles  small, 

Who  know  to  find  mementoes  of  the  Full." 

A  morning's  experience. 

Our  two  solitary  "  birdies"  were  piping  the  peculiar  notes 
of  the  Northern  wilderness,  the  salmon  were  leaping  and 
splashing,  and  I  longed  to  tackle  the  mate  of  the  silver  beau- 
ty lost  the  evening  previous. 

Having  already  soaked  ray  casting-line,  I  shouldered  my 
heavy  and  lengthy  friend,  the  Castle  Council  rod,  and  march- 
ed up  the  river  about  a  hundred  rods  to  where  a  bend  in  the 
shore  threw  the  current  out  around  the  eddy  rock.  I  select- 
ed a  medium -sized  fly  with  purple  body,  blue  legs,  brown 
mallard  wings,  and  golden  pheasant  top -knot  for  the  tail. 
Then  I  commenced  casting  out  toward  the  middle  of  the  riv- 
er, and  letting  the  fly  float  down  and  around  to  near  the 
shore.  About  my  third  cast  brought  a  bite  and  a  leap  that 
made  my  heart  palpitate  with  anxiety.  I  played  him  about 
half  an  hour,  he  once  and  a  while  running  off"  about  two  hun- 
dred feet  of  line,  and  then  coming  back  as  ta'ne  and  cosy  as 
possible,  until  by-and-by  his  patience  became  exhausted,  and 
he  thought  he  would  start  up  the  river  a  hundred  miles  or  so 
to  the  spawning-beds.     He  navigated  the  rapid  about  twen- 

*  It  is  asserted  as  a  truth  by  border  settlers  that,  when  burning  off  a  sum- 
mer fallow,  and  the  smoke  no  longer  protects  cattle  in  contiguous'  pastures, 
that  they  run  lowing  to  the  house  to  have  the  fire  renewed ;  and  it  is  some- 
rimes  necessary  that  they  shall  stand  in  dense  smoke  to  enable  them  to  re- 
main still  long  enough  to  be  milked. 


/ 


Get  fairly  Vanquished.  255 

ty  rods  above,  but  I  turned  him,  when  he  went  down  stream 
nmch  faster  than  it  was  convenient  for  me  to  follow ;  but  he 
■stopped  to  rest  where  I  hooked  him,  and  glad  enough  was  I 
tor  the  morning  was  oppressively  warm,  and  my  rest  had  not 
been  of  the  most  refreshing  kind  during  the  previous  night 
Here  I  began  to  call  loudly  for  a  gaifer,  and  presently  I  saw 
the  doctor's  demijohn  form  approaching  with  a  gaff,  and 
closely  following  was  the  general.     By  the  time  they  arrived 
my  friend  had  concluded  to  return  to  sea,  and  started-  but 
he  soon  found  a  resting-place,  and,  while  playing  nim  here 
the  general  msisted  so  strongly  against  playing  him  too  gen- 
tly that  I  put  a  little  more  stress  on  the  line.    The  fish  rol- 
licked around  the  pool,  and  showed  his  whole  size  and  beau- 
ty, when  my  friends  judged  that  he  would  weigh  over  thirty 
pounds.    I  thought  so  too,  and  played  with  great  care.    But 
the  salmon  became  impatient  of  restraint,  and  started.    He 
had  not  darted  more  than  a  hundred  feet  before  the  hook 
sprang  back  to  me,  and  he  went  on  his  way  rejoicing,  while 
my  friends  returaed  to  the  tents. 

I  felt  as  if  I  needed  a  strong  glass  of  lemonade  with  a  stick 
m  It  to  sustain  me ;  but,  being  strictly  temperate-that  morn- 
ing—I  sauntered  back  to  the  point  above  the  eddy  where  I 
had  hooked  my  recently-departed  friend.     There  I  examined 
the  fly  and  hook  with  care,  and  found  it  seeimdum  artem 
After  becoming  sufficiently  rested,  I  made  a  cast,  and  at  once 
hooked  another  salmon  about  the  same  size  as  the  one  which 
had  just  unbooked.     On  realizing  that  my  fish  was  on,  with 
a  slight  jerk  I  fastened  the  hook,  in  order  to  play  him  ginoer- 
ly  if  he  wanted  to  «  gallivant  and  cavort"  some.    Two  or  thr^^e 
times  he  revealed  his  enormous  size  and  great  symmetry,  so 
tliat  I  felt  quite  sure  I  had  hooked  the  mate  of  the  first  one 
This  also  remained  half  an  hour  trying  small  tricks  about  the 
pool,  when  all  at  once  he  dashed  away  across  the  current 
and,  on  rismg  to  the  surface,  I  distinctly  saw  the  line  wound 
three  times  round  him.     After  this  he  plunged  and  leaped 
up,  down,  and  across  tJie  river,  until  he  liberated  himself  and 


236 


Fishing  in  American  Wateks. 


took  my  fly.  Well,  thouj^ht  I,  salmon  of  st.ch  ^reat  size  i„ 
-^o  large  and  rapid  a  river,  should  be  fished  for  with  leader. 
ov  casting-lines  of  double  gut  all  tho  way.  I  will  return  to 
tent,  and  try  to  rig  gut  leaders  to  hold  them. 

The  situation  of  our  menaffe  began  to  look  invitincr-  and 
with  the  birch  bark  gathered  by  our  gaffers,  and  the 'illus- 
trated papers  and  magazines,  our  log  cabin  and  dining-room 
were  cheerfully  ornamented  by  the  ladies,  and  the  menu  of 
our  dinner  would  nrt  have  dishonored  a  metropolitan  hotel. 
Ihe  gaffers'  shanty  was  finished,  and  the  cuisine  attractively 
arranged  in  order.     After  dinner,  numerous  sentiments  wor- 
thy of  the  day  wo  were  commemorating-it  being  the  glori- 
ous Jourth  of  July -were  given,  and  we  made  the  welkin 
rmg  with  shouts  and  music. 

The  evening  was  spent  in  tying  flies,  and  concluded  by  ex- 
a^nining  the  lunar  bow  through  the  smoke  of  a  camp-fire  and 
the  bottoms  of  our  punch-glasses  until  the  near  approach  of 
midmght,  when  we  retired  to  fight  again  the  battles  of  the 
day  m  our  dreams,  and  to  mingle  in  them  the  faces  of  be- 
loved ones  far  awa. 


SECTION  SIXTH. 

HISTORY   AND   RUMINATION. 

Neither  the  Greeks  nor  Romans  knew  anything  about  an- 
gling for  salmon.     The  Saxons  knew  not  the  real  luxury  oi' 
angling.     A  thorough  appreciation  of  angling  can  only  be 
known  by  man   civilized.     "Catch  who  catch  can"  is  the 
niotto  by  which  savages  are  guided,  and  the  surest  means  of 
killing  game  is  to  them  the  best.     Savages  kill  solely  to  eat 
rhey  know  no  better,  and  lack  the  genius  of  the  civilized 
poacher  to  mvent  stake  and  concealed  nets.    Civilization  en- 
ables the  true  sportsman  to  adopt  suitable  means  to  secure 
sport,  and  as  civilized  men  enjoy  a  more  prosperous  condition 
than  savages,  they  are  not  so  dependent  on  the  fish  or  game 
they  take  or  kill.    Hence  the  sportsmen  of  the  civilized  world 
can  afford  to  give  the  animal  pursued  some  fair-play  "  law," 


Saw  the  North  Polio.  237 

supposing  the  nature  of  the  prey  entitled  to  it.     But,  in  the 
opnnon  of  an  uncivilized  people,  to  allo>v  a  quarry  or  a  shoal 
he  smallest  chance  of  escape  would  be  considered  great  folly 
o  the  ,g„oranc.e  and  cruelty  of  the  poacher  nmy  be  attribu: 
ted  the  reason  for  the  robbing  of  salmon-rivers  of  their  life 
|md  beauty.     Existence  could  not  have  been  so  enjoyable  to 
the  angler  m  either  the  palmy  days  of  Greece  or  Rome  or 
dunng  any  era  since,  while  robbing  the  rivers  of  salmon  ;as 
pursued,  as  it  is  m  our  day,  when  science  revives  sport  and 
invents  generous  means  for  its  perpetuity 

Le,  travaux  sur  ler,  Poissons  se  sent  singulierrnent  multi- 
plies clurant  la  periode  qrd  s^etend  cle  repoque  de  la  mart  de 
Luvier  au  moment  actuel. 

Having  flown  in  my  cogitations  from  Greece  to  Rome,  and 
•trom  thence  to  the  British  Isles  and  part  way  back  to  France 
where  I  endeavored  to  think  in  French,  and  as  if  in  dan^ei' 
of  being  overcome  by  a  fresh  swarm  of  musquitoes,  I  supposed 
myself  aroused  by  their  singing,  when,  to  my  surprise,  on 
lookmg  up,  It  was  the  doctor  at  the  door  of  my  tent,  insist- 
ing m  stentorian  tones  that  I  should  get  up.  I  asked  him 
the  time  of  night,  and  he  replied  that  it  was  beautiful 

There  is  no  use  to  contend  with  a  doctor,  and  so  I  arose 
when,  before  my  tent  door,  he  was  complacently  seated  on  a 
bench,  with  a  smudge  fire  and  the  boiling  tea-kettle  on  one 
Hide,  a  bowl  of  loaf-sugar  on  the  other,  and  a  bottle  of  old 
Jamaica  before  him.     Being  already  dressed,  for  I  slept  with 
my  overcoat,  body-coat,  and  boots  on,  between  army  blank- 
ets on  an  India-rubber  one,  and  yet  was  generally  cold  to- 
ward mornmg,  I  concluded  to  join  the  doctor  and  learn  what 
new  system  of  philosophy  or  astronomy  he  was  prepared  to 
propound.    With  looks  of  amazement,  he  pointed  to  the  bril- 
liant a^ivora  borealis  in  darts  shooting  up  throuo-h  the  lu- 
nar bow  like  streams  of  gold  and  fire  through  a^-ainbow !     - 
We  viewed  it  with  unstinted  admiration  until  he  composed 
a  hot  rum  punch.     We  then  examined  the  aurora  borealis 
.md  lunar  bow  through  the  bottoms  of  our  glasses,  and  the 


238 


J  ' 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


s>ght  was  really  gorg^eous  !     After  three  or  four  similar  ren- 
etitu)„s,  we  agreed  that  we  saw  the  North  Pole  distinetlt 
heading  Su-  John  F.ankhn's  grave,  and  the  bow,  spearH^^l' 

hn'toir  """  '""'"  """  """^^^  ''''  ^'^  ---^rank- 
While  the  doctor  was  evolving  a  new  theory.of  mundan. 
.matters,  only  to  be  understood  by  draining  a  dose  of  diff^s 

ess.     ho  soon  as  he  recovered  power  of  utterance  he  said 
^  ^Gintlemen,  bedad  there's  a  bear  just  foment  yees !    I  seeVl 

''  Well,  John,"  we  replied,  "  J,ow  did  he  look  ^" 
J3edad  he  was  as  big  as  an  elephant,  and  had  a  fiil  -is 
long  as  meself,  and  as  big  around,  be  gorr^h  -" 
How  long  was  he  ?"  we  inquired 
;;  Bedad  he  was  as  long  as  I  can  reach  with  n.y  two  arms." 
What  color  was  he?" 

"  Was  he  green  ?" 

"  Wo  supposed  so,  John  ;  it  is  a  fox." 

"No  no,  yer  honors!    Dr.  Bluff,  of  the  First  Fusileers  sii.l 
he'd  ;,iten  see'd  bears  here,  an'  I  thiuk  the  beast  I  l^dt 

^  "This  was  .at  the  shoot,  twonty-scven  miles  farther  up  the 

nver,    we  rephed;  and  just  then  the  halo  of  the  rising  s„„ 

began  to  .Itamnate  the  eastern  horizon,  and  teach  „s  to° ,    " 

pa..e  for  the  fresh-ruu  salmon  whiei,  had  arrived  that  mornin,, 

rom  then-  v,s,t  to  the  sea.    Havi,,g  consulted  our  wat      s' 

and  learned,  to  our  surprise,  that  it  was  only  three  o'ctock' 

and  as  onr  gaffers  were  still  asleep,  we  reluctantly  retired  to 

our  tents  .and  to  sleep  until  called  to  breakfast 
As  ,t  was  our  custom  to  rest  the  salmon-pools  durin.,-  the       ' 

best  part  of  the  day  for  angling,  in  order  to  protect  the  ri™. 


. 


. 


.. 


„ 


Kacing  along  the  River.  231 » 

fi-om  too  great  a  depletion  by  our  captivating  flies,  we  start- 
ed to  fish  our  several  pools  at  the  time  of  the  forenoon  when 
the  salmon  seeks  the  shady  side  of  a  rock  in  the  river,  and 
which  had  perceptibly  fallen  during  the  previous  night,  so 
that,  from  its  clearness,  we  could  distinctly  see  numerous  sal- 
mon lymg  m  pairs  beside  the  rocks.     They  were  very  inter- 
estmg  to  look  at,  but  it  was  hard  to  induce  a  rise.     Presently 
the  general,  who  had  been  angling  at  the  flills  a  mile  above 
was  seen  approaching,  and  doing  some  pretty  tall  walking' 
now  m  the  river  and  then  on  the  shore,  following  a  salmon' 
as  best  he  could,  for  the  fish  seemed  determined  to  return  to 
sea.     Down  they  came,  passing  us,  while  the  perspiration 
streamed  from  the  general's  face,  and  he  was  too  busy  to  re- 
turn our  salutations,  but  he  finally  brought  th*e  fish  to  -afi*. 

In  a  short  time  thereafter  the  doctor  was  seen  comino-  at 
the  speed- of  two-forty  on  his  rejoicing  way  down  the  idver 
from  the  falls,  led  by  a  large  salmon.     We  soon  saw  that  the 
salmon  was  playing  the  doctor,  who,  finding  that  he  was  los- 
ing strength,  called  lustily  for  help,  which  was  instantly  ren- 
dered, and  a  twenty-four  pound  salmon  was  soon  played  out 
and  landed.     The  doctor  retired  to  his  tent  and  was  not  seen 
agam  until  the  next  morning,  when  he  said, « It's  heavenly  to 
p  ay  a  generous  salmon,  but  when  he  turns  the  tables  and 
plays  you,  lie's  worse  than  the  cholera !" 

It  was  the  banker's  turn  next,  and,  thoroughly  aroused  and 
divested  ot  his  dignity,  down  he  came,  skipping  over  rocks 
ana  through  brush  at  a  very  rapid  rate.     Down  he  came  to 
Rattling  Run,  and  brought  his  fifth  salmon  to  gaff  that  day 
the  largest  twenty,  and  the  smallest  eleven  pounds 

The  doctor's  serious  intent  at  evoking  a  reliable  theory 
for  the  brilliant  coruscations  near  the  northern  horizon  pre- 
vented him  from  risking  the  play  of  another  salmon  until  he 
should  quite  recover  from  his  last  encounter.  In  the  mean 
time,  every  fresh  contest  with  a  salmon  increased  my  respect 
for  the  fish;  and  I  lost  so  many  in  pronortiou  to  the  -re'^t 
number  hooked,  that  I  began,  when  my  n-  was  first  taken 


240 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Waters. 


1 

•  * 


to  realize  an  indescribable  sensation  of  nervous  hesitancy ; 
and  the  mm-Q  gentle  he  appeared  when  fii-st  hooked,  the  more 
r  dreaded  the  fight  that  I  knew  must  come,  sooner  or  later ; 
for  a  salmon  never  surrenders  until  he  faints.     As  the  waters 
settled  until  as  transparent  as  ether,  the  fish  became  not  only 
more  shy,  but  they  gave  better  play  and  were  harder  to  ex- 
haust.    They  bit  gingerly  and  short.     I  had  ample  opportu- 
nity for  testing  some  theories  which  had  been  told  me  by  an- 
glers with  great  seriousness.     One  of  them  is,  that  "  if  a  sal- 
mon rises  to  your  fly  and  misses  it,  you  should  not  cast  again 
immediately,  because  he  is  sure  to  settle  back  before  rising. 
Vou  had  better,  therefore,  light  a  segar  and  smoke  half  of  it, 
or  take  a  glass  of  sherry,  and  rest  the  pool  at  least  fifteen 
minutes  before  repeating  the  cast."    This  I  ascertained  to  be 
all  bosh.     Once,  in  particular,  a  salmon  took  my  fly  at  the 
fourth  cast,  though  having  rose  to  it  at  every  previ:  us  one 
and  missed  it,  while  I  repeated  my  casts  with  as  little  sus- 
I)ense  as,  if  angling  for  brook  trout.     A  salmon  will  return  to 
the  fly,  if  he  rose  to  it  in  earnest  at  first,  as  often  as  will  a 
trout;  but  either  fish,  when  pricked  by  a  fly-hook,  will  refuse 
to  come  again  until  he  forgets  it.     Again  it  is  said  that  "  if 
you  hook  a  salmon  and  he  parts  your  tackle,  taking  your 
hook  and  a  piece  of  the  gut  snell  to  wliich  it  was  attached, 
)»e  will  not  rise  to  an  artificial  fly  again  that  season."    This 
is  also  a  mistake;  for  the  gentleman  who  awns  the  "York 
River,"  Gaspe,  fished  with  a  friend  who.  lost  a  hook  and  part 
of  a  leader  by  a  salmon  one  morning  last  July,  and  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  took  the  salmonVith  the  hook  and  gut 
still  in  his  mouth ;  and  what  appears  most  singular  is  that 
he  hooked  the  salmon  with  the  same  kind  of^fly  that  was 
then  fastened  to  the  jaw  of  the  fish. 


.. 


. 


Hot  Days  and  Cold  Nights. 


241 


. 


i 


SECTION  SEVENTH. 

.TOLLY   SPORT   ON   KATTLINO   RUN. 

"Oh !  not  in  camp  or  court 
Our  best  delights  we  find, 
13ut  in  some  loved  resort 
With  water,  wood,  and  wind  ; 
Where  nature  works, 
And  beauty  lurks. 
In  all  her  craft  enshrined." 

The  clays  were  divided  into  four  hours  of  night,  made  scin- 
tillant  by  tlie  aurora  borealis,  and  the  hinar  bow  more  bril- 
liant tlian  daylight,  but  cool  and  huslicd  so  that  no  sounds 
remained  but  the  rushing  waters,  the  splashing  of  the  royal 
salmon,  and  the  piteous  cries  of  seals ;  three  hours  of  morn- 
ing, mild  and  serene,  enlivened  by  the  wild  music  of  the  birds 
of  the  wilderness  and  the  occasional  sounds  of  animals  forag- 
ing for  breakfast  hi  the  mountain  forests  by  which  we  were 
surrounded ;  fourteen  hours  of  a  day,  when  clear,  ranging  in 
the  sun  from  eighty  to  ninety  degrees  Fahrenheit ;  and  three 
hours  of  mild  twilight,  with  light  enough  to  read. 

The  morning  was   clear  and  still;   not  a  zephyr  swept 
through  the  gorge  by  the  falls,  or  came  up  laden  with  the 
fragrance  of  codfish  from  the  Gulf     The  shrill  music  of  our 
two  charming  birds  and  an  occasional  splash  of  feeding  sal- 
mon Avere  the  only  sounds  which  relieved  the  moiiotone  of  the 
clear  and  rapid  river.     Our  plateau,  surrounded  by  majestic 
mountains,  steep  and  rocky,  formed  a  vast  amphitheatre. 
The  river  was  still  falling,  and  as  tliin  and  clear  as  possible. 
Our  assembling  at  breakfast  proved  that  the  black  flies  had 
partially  desisted  from  scoring  us,  and  each  member  of  the 
party  felt  relieved  of  farther  danger  from  that  scourge.     It 
is  w^ortliy  of  remark,  that  from  the  almost  unbearable  annoy- 
ance caused  by  the  punishment  from  black  flies  on  our  ar- 
rival, we  had  in  one  short  week  become  so  accustomed  to 
them  that  they  ceased  to  elicit  our  fear  or  attention. 
The  morning  time  to  angle  for  salmon  having  expired,  we 

Q 


•■temaf  'cfiwrmi 


242 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


regarded  the  river  as  having  been  protected,  and  the  pools 
rested  long  enough,  and  so  mounted  our  toggery  and  ar- 
ranged our  flies  for  the  fray.     It  was  the  doctor's  turn  for 
the  upper  pool,  at  the  foot  of  the  falls ;  the  general's  for  the 
bend  to  Rattling  Run ;  the  btmker's  included  all  tho  opposite 
of  the  river,  while  my  sporting-water  was  Rattling  Run,  and 
I  had  never  fished  it.     My  gafter  was  wanted  elsewhere,  and 
the  doctor  most  generously  consented  to  supply  his  place. 
He  led  the  way  with  gaif  on  shoulder,  marching  up  to  the 
first  pool  with  an  elan  and  energy  which  meant  that  he  was 
determined  to  show  me  where  salmon  disported.   After  walk- 
ing half  a  mile  through  the  brush,  we  emerged  opposite  a  sal- 
mon-pool on  Rattling  Run.     The  run  was  about  twenty  rods 
wide,  with  shallow  water  three  quarters  of  the  distance  to 
the  opposite  bank.     The  doctor  pointed  to  the  pool  on  the 
opposite  shore,  and  told  me  that  a  salmon  made  a  feint  at  his 
fly  there  two  days  previously.     The  water  ran  swift  over  a 
pebbly  bed,  but  it  was  not  much  above  knee-deep  on  our  side 
of  the  pool,     I  waded  to  within  casting  distance  of  the  head 
of  the  pool,  and  commenced  casting  while  moving  slowly 
down  the  stream,  until,  having  made  half  a  dozen  cast  -,  and 
swept  the  surface  with  great  care,  I  delivered  my  fly  just 
above  a  rock  near  the  foot  of  the  pool,  where  a  salmon  made 
its  appearance  and  rose  to  take  the  fly,  but  missed  it.     The 
next  cast  delivered  the  fly  beyond  and  below  the  rock,  in  the 
white-water  foam,  when  the  salmon  accepted  the  fly,  and  fast- 
ened good  and  strong.     Instead  of  turning  to  tlie  falls  just 
below,  he  shot  up  to  within  a  few  paces  of  me.     The  doctor, 
seeing  his  move,  ran  below  the  salmon  to  pre\  ent  it  from 
dashing  down  the  chute.     For  a  full  half  hour  while  the  play 
lasted,  it  was  so  amusing  to  see  the  doctor  run  and  flourish 
the  gaff  in  his  endeavor  to  drive  the  salmon  to  the  pool 
above  that  I  could  hardly  restrain  my  laughter  enough  to 
stand  and  steady  the  fish's  head  occasionally  against  the  cur- 
rent.    But  the  doctor  finally  conquered,  and  the  fish  became 
so  fatigued  that  the  doctor  took  him  out  of  the  wet  with  his 


.. 


mymmmsrmm 


"■ 


Shaep  Contest  with  a  Salmok.  243 

gaff,  when  it  scaled  twelve  pounds;  and,  though  not  large, it 
IS  something  to  play  and  save  a  twelve-pound  salmon  with  a 
smgle  gut  in  a  swift  and  shallow  rapid  just  above  a  chute. 

We  now  proceeded  to  the  second  pool  above,  where  the 
doctor  seated  himself  to  rest  on  shore  and  watch  my  move- 
ments.   Here  also  the  run  was  about  twenty  rods  wide,  with 
the  channel  along  the  bank  opposite.    I  therefore  waded  out 
so  as  to  cast  across  the  main  current,  and  let  my  fly  sweep 
round  to  the  eddy,  some  eighty  feet  below.     I  had  not  made 
many  casts  before  a  salmon  deliberately  swam  up  to  my  fly 
and  examined  it,  and  then,  as  if  suspicious,  turned  from  it 
like  electricity,  his  turn  forming  a  most  exciting  whirl.     In 
vam  I  cast  several  times  more,  but  the  run  was  too  wide  to 
deliver  my  fly  at  the  farther  shore,  where  was  a  deep  pool 
from  which  I  might  have  enticed  him.     But  we  gave  up  the 
chase  and  commenced  a  return,  the  doctor  walking  along 
the  shore,  and  I  wading  and  casting  as  I  went.     We  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  hooked  a  very  elegant  salmon.     There  was 
a  pool  on  each  side  of  the  run,  and  the  salmon  took  the  fly 
on  the  farther  side.     As  soon  as  the  fish  realized  that  he  was 
hrmly  hooked,  he  came  across  the  run  for  the  pool  near  us. 
I  stood  in  the  water  nearly  between  the  two  pools,  but  rath- 
er above  them.     As  the  run  was  very  rapid  all  the  way  be- 
low until    t  entered  the  St.  John,  I  requested  the  doctor  to 
tall  below  the  salmon,  and  thus  prevent  the  fish  from  run- 
ning the  chute.     The  doctor  waded  below  the  pool  on  the 
eft,  and  as  he  saw  the  salmon  darting  for  that  pool,  he  ran 
below,  to  prevent  the  fish  from  turning  down  stream  after  it 
should  learn  that  it  was  mistaken  in  finding  protection  where 
It  was  gomg  to  seek  it.     The  salmon  came  to  the  near  pool, 
and,  finding  no  assistance,  it  endeavored  to  sulk  a  little,  but 
finally  resolved  to  run  the  chute,  or  return  to  the  pool  at  the 
larther  shore. 

After  a  close  contest  of  an  hour's  duration,  in  which  the 
-salmon  passed  twice  between  the  doctor's  legs,  the  fish  was 
brought  to  gaff;  and  weighed  fifteen  pounds.     On  returning 


>i 


244 


FiBIIING    IN   AmEKICAN   WatEKS. 


I 


to  dinner,  we  learned  tliat  onr  friends  had  fished  hard  for 
modest  results.  By  the  supervisory  care  of  the  ladies,  the 
dinner  was  served  in  the  following  order  or  menu : 

Vegetable  soup. 

Boiled  salmon  and  fried  trout. 

Roast  mutton,  green  peas,  and  other  vegetables. 

Claret  wine,  tea,  bread  and  butter,  etc.,  concluding  with  r. 
dessert  of  marmalade  and  dried  fruits. 

After  dinner  we  concluded  to  rest  the  ^  '  (urn  some  to- 

bacco, and  tie  some  flies.  When  we  first  n^ogan  angling,  the 
preference  by  the  salmon  seemed  to  be  given  to  the  Montreal 
tly,  or  a  purple  body,  brown  mallard  wings,  and  tail  from  the 
top-knot  of  the  golden  pheasant ;  but  within  the  last  two 
days  they  would  not  touch  it.  Their  next  favorite  was  a 
good  imitation  of  the  real  salmon  fly,  body  and  wings  light 
gray ;  but  after  a  couple  of  days  more  they  refused  all  flies 
but  those  with  a  preponderance  of  bright  yellow  and  orange, 
tied  on  a  very  small  hook.  The  double-hook  flies  were  the 
most  successful  in  bringing  salmon  to  gaff",  but  I  never  tried 
them ;  and  it  is  contended  by  some  that  two  small  hooks  fall 
better,  and  are  more  attractive  than  a  single  one,  Forrest, 
of  Kelso,  is  the  favorite  fly-maker  with  Canadian  anglers,  and 
he  generally  ties  on  a  double  hook. 

SECTION  EIGHTH. 

FLY-FISHING  BELOW  THE   FALLS. 

"Below  the  Falls  of  St.  John,  from  deep  crevice  stealing, 
,  The  bright  salmon  watches  his  prey, 

And  when  'mid  the  white  foam  some  stray  fly  lies  wheeling, 
Slyly  bears — slyly  bears  it  away. 

"  'Tis  thus  in  this  bright  world,  at  joys  without  measure, 
Unheeding,  we  ardently  spring, 
And  forget  that  oft  hid  by  the  plumage  of  pleasure 

Lies  a  hook — lies  a  hook  in  the  wing." — Stood  art. 

To  a  man  unaccustomed  to  the  broad,  rushing,  tumbling 
torrents  which  debouch  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  from  the 
north,  there  are  many  subjects  to  inspire  wonder,  and  some 


^ 


,. 


The  Angler  and  his  Gaffer. 


245 


few  to  challenge  admiration.  The  bold  mountains  of  gray 
rock,  from  which  a  few  stinted  fir-trees  struggle  into  the 
light  of  day  above  the  fissures  and  dark  gorges  are  sombre 
to  see  and  sublime  to  contemplate ;  and  the  rivers,  tumbling 
down  frantically  in  their  narrow  passage  between  high  walls 
of  solid  masonry,  would  appear  frightful  did  they  not  contain 
thousands  of  beautiful  salmon  and  trout,  which  make  their 
way  with  great  assiduity  to  clear  themselves  of  sea-lice  by 
the  action  of  fresh  water,  deposit  their  eggs,  and,  when  warn- 


I' 


V     ! 


246 


Fishing  m  American  Wateks. 


ed  by,  fresh-water  parasites,  return  to  sea  to  recuperate  and 
fatten  preparatory  to  another  visit  up  the  river  to  their 
spawning-grounds. 

One  day,  while  fishing  the  pool  below  the  falls,  I  felt  a 
tug,  and  as  my  reel  spun  round  whir !  whir ! !  whir ! ! !  I 
raised  my  rod  to  a  perpendicular,  when — the  reel  still  con- 
tinuing— I  saw  three  leaps  at  once,  each  fish  leaping  fasten- 
ed to  my  fly.  Thought  I, "  If  you  make  three  leaps  at  once 
there  is  small  chance  of  saving  you,"  and  so  it  resulted.  By 
the  mana3uvre,  it  formed  a  bight  in  my  line  and  unhooked. 

My  captures  were  very  fair  that  day,  and  it  is  a  remarka- 
bly interesting  pool  to  fish ;  but  the  river  was  so  Ioav,  and 
its  waters  so  transparent,  that  I  could  count  scores  of  salmon 
lying  in  pairs  by  the  rocks,  awditing  a  rise  in  the  river  to  help 
them  surmount  the  chute. 

The  next  morning  I  fished  the  same  pool  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  and  in  response  to  my  second  or  third  cast 
I  hooked  a  large  salmon,  which  ran  out  to  the  middle  of  the 
river  and  took  nearly  all  the  line  off  my  reel,  when  it  made 
a  leap  about  twenty  feet  up  the  river,  and  several  feet  above 
the  water,  and  the  swiftness  of  the  current  made  such  a  bight 
in  my  line  that  its  weight  parted  the  single  leader,  though  I 
dipped  the  point  of  the  rod  as  I  saw  the  leap  coming.     As 
my  line  came  back  I  felt  despondent  at  losing  such  a  beauti- 
ful fish ;  but  I  venture  to  state  that  no  angler,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, could  have  %aved  it.     Such  is  salmon-angling. 
You  must  use  a  single  gut  for  the  half  of  your  casting-line 
toward  the  end,  and  tie  your  fly  on  a  single  gut,  or  you  will 
be  regarded  as  a  coarse  angler,  and  all  your  large  scores  will 
count  you  naught  as  an  artist  at  angling.     Here  are  salmon 
in  a  broad,  rapid  river,  large  enough  to  try  the  strongest 
striped-bass  tackle ;  and  yet  they  are  to  be  taken  on  a  single 
gut,  and  played  from  half  an  hour  to  three  hours  to  bring  to 
gaff.     Add  to  the  delicacy  of  play  necessitated  from  the  light- 
ness of  tackle  the  fact,  also,  that  the  mouth  of  a  salmon  is  very 
tender.     These  are  points  to  be  noted  if  you  would  angle  for 


■ 


" 


'" 


Salmon  Leaps  and  Spray-bows. 


247 


. 


sal  mon.  No  one  ever  hears  of  a  string  of  salmon,  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  their  bodies  are  so  heavy  and  gills  so  ten- 
der  that  they  will  not  sustain  their  weight. 

I  put  on  another  fly  and  cast  again.     For  some  time  my 
eyes  were  not  blest  with  the  sight  of  a  rise;  but  by-and-by 
a  salmon  accepted  the  fly  in  earnest  and  fastened.    The  prick 
of  the  hook  gave  it  such  a  shock  that  it  bounded  and  leaped 
three  or  four  times,  as  quick  as  thought,  several  feet  above 
the  water.     Finding  itself  still  hook.d,  it  came  toward  me, 
and  I  retreated,  for  fear  that  too  acute  an  angle  of  the  line 
and  rod  might  enable  it,  by  a  salmon  dash,  to  break  the  top 
of  my  rod.     I  therefore  walked  backward,  and  the  salmon  fol- 
lowed me  until  within  five  feet  of  the  shore.     It  then  turned 
as  quick  as  lightning,  and  whir !  whir !  whir ! !  went  my  reel. 
Another  leap  showed  it  to  be  in  the  middle  of  the  current, 
with  but  little  line  remaining  on  my  reel,  and  a  reef  of  rocks 
rising  above  the  water  between  me  and  the  salmon.     I  at 
once  saw  that  it  might  extricate  itself  and  take  my  fly  and 
some  of  the  line;  but  it  misjudged  its  own  situation,  and 
started  to  leap  the  falls.     By  its  failure  I  turned  its  head 
shoreward,  and  brought  it  within  a  rod  of  me,  Avhen  it  took 
fright  again  and  started  down  the  river.     After  checking  and 
turning  it,  back  it  came  to  me,  gentle  as  possible,  leaping  oc- 
casionally, as  if  it  v/as  its  nature,  for  I  should  have  thought  a 
fish  so  circumstanced  would  have  swam  low;  but  no  — all 
game  fish  are  alike  in  that  respect.     Although  the  salmon 
had  become  used  to  my  aj^pearance,  it  still  distrusted  me,  and 
started  out  into  the  current  again.     There  he  leaped  a  few 
times,  and  finally  consented  to  be  led  back ;  but  when  it  gain- 
ed sight  of  the  gaff"  it  shot  off"  again,  though  I  could  both  see 
and  feel  that  it  was  losing  strength.     After  two  or  three 
more  visits  to  the  shore  it  became  weakened,  and  Duncan 
gaffed  it.^  The  fish  weighed  only  sixteen  pounds,  but  it  was 
the  prettiest  salmon  that  I  had  ever  seen.     Above  the  line 
from  gill  to  tail,  it  was  a  light  and  brilliant  salmon  color,  and 
below  it  was  like  polished  silver.     I  could  not  help  exclaim- 


11 


i  ftpf 


248 


FisiiiNcj  IN  American  Watkus. 


If 


iiig  liow  boautifiil!  Tliorc  is  nothini?  more  hcfiutiful  than  a 
trosli-nin  salmon  when  Hrst  taken,  ncitluT  is  tlioro  any  |)on- 
cil  capable  of  crcatiiit^  its  apparent^  counterpart.  To  feel  a 
salmon  fast  to  your  lly  aL  see  its  leap  is  alone  worth  a  voy- 
age to  Canada  to  exi)erience. 

Again  I  swept  the  pool  with  care  and  got  a  rise.  As  I 
oould  not  allure  the  beauty  to  a  second  attempt,  I  concluded 
to  rest  the  pool  and  go  to  the  foot  of  the  plain  water,  where 
I  saw  the  salmon  disporting  like  dolphins  just  above  the 
rapid.  The  bed  of  the  river  was  about  a  <puirter  of  a  mile 
wide,  and  shallow  on  my  side.  I  therefore  waded  out,  and 
after  a  few  casts  hooked  a  large,  vigorous  salmon.  After  a 
high  leap  it  struck  out  to  the  middle  of  the  river.  Then  it 
made  numerous  rushes  and  leai)s,  Avitli  turns  and  sweeps,  un- 
til fmally  the  hook  sprang  back  to  me,  and  let  the  twenty- 
l)ounder  go  on  its  way  rejoicing.  Very  soon  I  hooked  an- 
'other,  and  it  attempted  to  run  the  rapid ;  but  I  checked  it  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  below,  wlicre  it  stopped  to  sulk  behind  a 
rock,  and  before  it  formed  another  plan,  my  man  Duncan 
watched  his  chance  and  gaifed  it. 

Again,  after  half  an  hour's  j)layiug,  I  succeeded  in  losing  a 
very  large  fresh-run  salmon.  I  felt  mortiiied,  and  so  con- 
cluded on  returning  to  the  head  of  the  stretch  to  learn  the 
intentions  of  the  large  lish  which  had  oftered  before  I  left, 
and  for  which  I  rested  the  pool.  I  went  to  the  liead  of  the 
pool  and  swept  it  along  down  until  I  came  to  where  I  got  the 
rise  before  I  left ;  but  it  had  eitber  leaped  the  chute  or  gone 
from  home,  and  after  a  few  rises  but  no  strikes,  I  returned  to 
dinner.  "  Moving  large  fish,  however,  is  held  by  every  true 
angler  only  second  to  hooking  them ;  but  many  persons  are 
apt  to  despise  the  most  skillful  and  patient  efforts  unless 
crowned  with  immediate  success."  This  is  the  experience 
of  John  Colquhoun  and  every  true  angler. 

Next  morning,  by  dint  of  perseverance  and  continued  ef- 
fort,! finally  hooked  a  salmon  at  the  foot  of  the  pool,  and  just 
at  that  moment  a  loud  crackling  was  heard  in  the  thick  un- 


■■ 


f 


DAY-lHtKAMS    AND   KXCITING    Si'ORT. 


240 


(lorvvood  nlong  tlio  Hhore,  and  Duncan  called  my  attention  to 
a  bear  tljat,liaviiig  <liKcovered  us,  was  niaking  off  with  all  the 
Hpeed  i)()SHil)le.  I  could  not  turn  to  look  i'roni  my  salmon,  for 
it  had  not  yet  decided  upon  what  course  of  tactics  to  pursue. 
After  a  ihw  minuses,  when  the  salmon  had  concluded  to  run 
the  hook  out,  1  turned  to  see,  l>ut  the  bear  was  no  longer  in 
sight.  After  several  runs,  tacks,  shifts,  sweeps,  and  leai)-!,  I 
brought  the  salmon  home  as  gentle  as  a  kitten,  so  that  it 
seemed  a  pity  to  gall  it. 

My  friends  had  been  fully  as  lucky  as  I  had,  and,  as  the 
flies  were  disappearing,  and  we  had  examined  our  plateau, 
walled  by  mountains  and  watered  by  beautiful  rivers,  we 
concluded  to  digest  a  good  dinner  by  admiring  the  works  of 
nature  and  enjoying  the  cmrora  borealis  and  lunar  bow. 

Itosy  were  our  dreams ;  but,  be  it  remembered,  one  of  the 
party  began  to  sigh  for  Husan  Jane. 

The  following  day,  and  for  several  days  thereafter,  the 
sport  was  about  the  same.  The  river  soon  began  to  shrink 
and  clarify,  and  as  the  salmon  became  more  scarce,  the  num- 
bers of  sea  trout  increased.  Sea  trout  are  precisely  like  those 
of  Long  Island.  Their  voyage  to  sea  renders  them  as  white 
and  plump  as  are  those  of  the  Willows,  below  Oba.  Snedicor's, 
and  perhaps  cleaner  and  Avhiter;  but  tliey  are  the  same  fish 
hi  ichthyological  peculiarity. 

The  next  day  that  I  fished  Rattling  Run  I  took  two  salmon 
at  its  mouth,  Avhere  the  eddy  was  formed  by  the  confluence 
with  the  St.  John;  and  I  cast  again  to  the  foot  of  the  rapid, 
where  my  fly  was  usually  drawn  into  the  eddy,  and  before 
it  fliirly  touched  the  water  a  salmon  took  it,  and  leaped  some 
ten  feet  up  stream,  dropping  it  while  thus  leaping.  As  I  saw 
the  fly  fall,  I  was  in  the  act  of  retrieving  my  line,  when  an- 
other salmon  was  fast  to  the  fly,  and  I  broke  the  top  of  my 
rod.  This  proved  to  mo  that  the  movement  of  a  salmon  is 
too  swift  to  be  followed  by  the  eye.  I  played  and  killed  the 
salmon  after  the  rod  was  broken,  and  niy  gaffer  landed  him. 
Before  I  could  splice  another  top  to  my  Martin  Kelly  (a 


250 


Fishing  in  A>iekican  W/tees. 


great  improvement  on  the  Caatle  Connell  rod)  the  shoal  had 
either  passed  by,  or  otherwise  had  concluded  to  decline  ray 
flies,  and  I  was  obliged  to  ibrcgo  the  amusement  of  ao-yin 
playing  a  salmon  that  day.  * 

As  there  ai)peared  no  prospect  for  the  river  rising  soon,  we 
began  to  think  seriously  of  dividing  the  party,  and  two  of  us 
taking  gaffers  and  canoes,  and  going  to  the  upper  falls,  twen- 
ty-seven miles  above.    The  next  morning,  however,  was  show- 
ery, and  the  river  had  risen  more  than  a  foot  during  the  night; 
we  therefore  concluded  to  defer  going  up  the  river  until  the 
prospective  rain  should  have  subsided.     The  fitful  showers 
of  the  morning  increased  to  a  steady  and  lieavy  rain  in  the 
afternoon,  and  both  the  general  and  banker  met  with  fine 
sport,  taking  several  salmon  of  fine  size.     This  day  the  gen- 
eral evinced  a  commendable  perseverance,  for,  in  the  heaviest 
shower,  if  a  salmon  part  ed  his  line  and  carried  away  his  fly, 
he  would  forthwith  stop  where  he  Avas,  and  tie  a  fly  in  a 
drenching  rain,  attach  it  to  his  leader,  and  proceed  to  casting. 
He  lost  several  large  fish  that  day,  and  saved  only  three; 
one  of  these  he  hooked  in  the  pectoral  fin  of  the  left  side  of 
tlie  fish,  on  the  opposite  side  from  the  general,  as  the  fish 
started  down   stream,  leading  the  general  at  double-quick 
time.     I  Avas  sweeping  the  pool  at  the  mouth  of  Rattling 
Run  when  I  saw  the  general  hastening  doAvn  the  St.  Johir, 
along  the  shore.     The  rain  was  drenching.     Pie  wore  rubber 
overalls,  overcoat,  and  hat;  the  brim  of  his  hat  turned  under 
across  the  forehead,  giving  him  the  air  of  enthusiasm  so  fine- 
ly represented  in  the  picture  of  Napoleon  when  he  commenced 
crossing  the  Alps.     Of  course  there  was  the  slight  difl^'erence 
of  our  general  being  on  foot;  but,  with  his  rod  stretching 
high  in  air,  the  storm  catching  liis  loose  garment,  the  ha't 
with  brim  turned  under  and  giving  it  the  military  chapcau 
shape,  the  toia  ensemble  was  all  energy  and  action.     Down 
swept  the  general.     Rattling  Run  had  swollen  considerably, 
and  was  three  feet  deep  and  very  rapid  just  above  the  mouth' 
mto  which  the  general  dashed  and  w^aded  across,  holdino-  on 


Veuy  Tall  Walking.  251 

to  his  fish,  which  he  thought  a  forty-pounder  at  least  I    Hi^ 
gaffer  followed  close  behind,  and  was  about  to  embark  the 
general  in  a  canoe  to  foUow  the  salmon  down  the  river;  but 
the  fish  stopped  in  the  pool  where  I  was  angling,  and  after  a 
play  of  less  than  half  an  hour  the  general  brought  it  to  gaff, 
when  it  weighed  IVi  lbs.     This  feat  was  the  greatest  of  thJ 
season ;  and,  had  not  the  fish  been  hooked  on  the  far  side  from 
the  general,  so  that  it  was  hard  to  maintain  an  equipoise,  it 
would  probably  have  torn  away.     I  shall  never  forget  t'he 
picture  of  ardor  and  energy  which  rushed  down  along  the 
shore  and  dashed  across  Rattling  Run,  speechless  with  won- 
der and  excitement.     At  dinner  we  canvassed  the  morning's 
sport,  and,  though  the  rain  dripped  slightly  through  the  ba'^-k 
roof  of  our  dining  arboi-,  we  began  to  realize  that  a  home  in 
the  wilderness  possesses  an  indescribable  attraction,  and  the 
apparently  settled  rain  seemed  an  omen  for  better  fishino- 
than  we  had  yet  enjoyed,  and  we  parted  that  night  to  our 
several  camps  with  a  renewed  stock  of  hope  and  pleasing  an- 
ticipation. •  ■ 

SECTION  NINTH, 

THOUGHTS   OF  RETURNING   HOMEWARD. 
"  'Tis  a  midnight  fair  to  see, 
Wotulrous  in  slll)limit'^ 
Lingering  at  our  cabin  door, 
Fast  beside  the  river  shore. 
Dazzled  is  my  gazing  eye 
With  the  grandeur  of  the  sky. 
Clouds  are  flying  in  mad  chase 
O'er  the  moon's  benignant  face ; 
In  the  blue  concave  of  air 
Stars  like  diamonds  gleam  and  glare, 
While  with  weird,  celestial  glow 
Springs  aloft  the  lunar  bow. 
See !  like  arch  triumphal,  high 
How  it  soareth  to  the  sky ; 
See !  like  heavenly  rainbow,  bent 
O'er  a  showery  firmament, 
How  its  gorgeous  columns  climb 
With  a  majesty  sublime.  "—Isaac  M'Lellan. 


252 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


1 11 


Our  dreams  of  home  were  rosy.  Though  unlooked-for, 
modest  flushes  of  the  great  St.  John,  produced  by  summer 
showers  at  its  tributaries,  caused  temporary  hope,  yet  the 
stream  kept  gradually  narrowing  and  falling  so  fast  that  sal- 
mon refused  to  ascend  to  the  fluvial  part  of  the  river.  About 
the  20th  of  July  the  grilse  began  to  make  their  appearance, 
and  the  parr  rose  to  the  fly  in  the  most  plucky  manner, 
evincing  more  courage  than  their  grandparents. 

"At  length  the  morning  for  our  departure  has  arrived," 
said  one  of  our  party  while  returning  from  enjoying  his  last 
bath  of  the  season  in  Rattling  Run.    Instead  of  learning  from 


the 


"Tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones," 


we  were  about  to  exchange  the  scenes  of  nature,  nnadorned 
by  art,  for  the  crowded  mart,  and  the  hurry-scurry  of  aggre- 
gated humanity.  The  thoughts  which  made  bearable  the  re- 
flections called  forth  by  preparing  to  leave  our  home  of  free- 
dom, and  felicity  of  angling  for  salmon,  were  the  dearest  of 
earth  —  home,  family,  and  friends.  For  these  we  could  en- 
dure the  sights  of  striking  tents,  and  loading  the  bark  ca- 
noes for  our  departure  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Our  tents  were  struck,  tents,  trunks,  and  rubber  bags 
packed  before  breakfast.  None  but  the  experienced  can  re- 
alize how  lonely  appears  the  little  spot  of  ground  over  which 
his  tent  has  been  stretched  for  several  weeks,  but  of  which 
nothing  remains  except  the  boughs  of  the  fir-tree  which  rest- 
ed him,  and  gave  him  pleasant  dreams  for  many  nights.  We 
still  heard  tiie  salmon  leaping  and  splashing  in  the  river,  and 
the  two  lone  birds  piping  their  merry  notes,  though  our  tents 
were  removed  and  packed  in  the  canoes.  But,  shaking  oflT 
the  sense  of  melancholy  Avhicli  I  felt  to  be  gaining  on  me,  I 
rememberecj  that  the  lines  of  true  anglers  always  fall  in 
pleasant  places,  and  so  adjourned  to  breakfast. 

As  the  general  had  decided  to  remain  and  see  the  salmon 
season  out,  'twere  wrong  to  deny  the  fact  that  leaving  him 


A  Farewell  View. 


253 


and  his  lady  greatly  deepened  the  shade  of  our  feelings  at 
parting  from  the  peaceful  plateau.  But  we  all  put  on  cheer- 
ful faces  and  mixed  our  coffee  with  anecdotes.  Our  break- 
fast consisted  of  fried  or  broiled  trout,  broiled  grilse,  termed 
in  Canada  ''dejeuner^'  signifying  "breakfast."  By  others  it 
is  called  the  "  white  salmon."  Then  we  had  ham  and  eggs, 
hot  biscuit,  etc.  We  enjoyed  our  last  meal  as  well  as  "cir- 
cumstances would  admit  under  the  conflicting  feelings  of  a 
hope  to  soon  see  our  flimilies,  and  a  regret  that  the  luntr  bow 
and  aurora  borealis,  with  the  singing  birds,  would  have  to 
sing  and  shine  without  us. 

As  to  the  salmon  which  had  played  us,  and  at  numerous 
times  sold  us,  we  felt  as  if  we  would  have  liked  another  con- 
test with  them ;  but  as  that  was  impossible  then  and  there, 
as  we  had  not  the  time  to  spare,  we  promised  those  of  them 
which  parted  from  us  with  our  hooks  as  nose-jewels,  and  oth- 
ers that— having  played  us  long  enough— sprang  the  hook 
out  of  their  beautiful  mouths,  that  if  we  hook  them  again 
they  will  not  get  off  so  easily. 

After  breakfast,  and  all  being  ready  for  our  departure,  the 
stars  and  stripes  were  raised,  and  while  the  general  Avavcd 
his  salmon-rod,  we  started,  and  a  salute  to  our  honor  was 
fired  from  our  only  cannon  as  we  parted  from  view  of  the  pla- 
teau and  disappeared  from  its  remaining  inhabitants  around 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  at  the  bend  of  the  St.  John,  just  be- 
low the  entrance  of  Kattlino;  Run. 
Our  hearts  were  full  as  we  responsively  shouted  hurra ! 

Ye  rivers,  so  haunted  with  myriads  of  flies, 
Whose  flashes  of  salmon-hreaks  gladden  the  eyes  ; 
Scenes  wliere  the  brown  bear  roams  the  thick  brake ; 
Scenes  where  the  seals  their  gambolings  make  ; 
When  slmll  I  tread  your  fair  precincts  again  ? 
When  kindle  my  camp-fires  over  your  plain  ? 
When  again  cast  my  line  and  my  flies, 
Charming  my  senses— feasting  my  eyes  ? 

The  river  was  low  and  the  reefs  nearly  bare,  so  that  navi- 
gation was  not  so  safe  as  when  we  ascended  j  but  our  guides 


II  i 


254: 


Fishing  m  American  Waters. 


knew  how  to  manage  bark  canoes  better  than  to  speak  any 
language,  their  jmtois  being  a  medley  of  French,  Indian,  and 
English.  But  they  were  all  trusty  and  industrious,  as  all 
Canadian  guides  are.  It  is  best  that  each  angler  have  two 
guides  and  one  canoe ;  for,  though  one  man  only  is  needed  to 
.attend  an  angler  for  gaffing  and  rowing  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  encampment,  yet  for  loAg  journeys  up  rapid  rivers 
two  men  are  indispensable.  Cabins  for  cooking  and  for  lodg- 
ing may  also  be  soon  erected,  and  they  arc  preferable  to  port- 
able tents. 

•  The  River  St.  John  winds  like  a  serpent  between  the  moun- 
tains, and  as  the  fall  from  our  plateau  to  the  mouth— 27  miles 
-^is  more  than  150  feet,  the  rapids  ar-  very  swift;  so  that 
many  times  in  rounding  a  bend  we  surprised  a  family  of  seals 
teaching  their  young  to  catch  salmon,  wild  geese  with  their 
goslings,  ducks  with  their  broods,  and  expected  to  see  Bruin 
but  didn't,  ' 

The  row  down  the  river  was  most  pleasurable.  The  thin 
•  bark  canoe  responded  to  the  lashings  of  the  tide,  and  we  felt 
as  tae  lobster-peddler  said,  "All  alive  !  all  alive !''  The  doc- 
tor, who  had  taken  a  front  seat  in  the  canoe,  with  his  coat  on 
and  broad-brimmed  hat,  had  found  the  passage  so  jolly  that 
-like  Obadiah  Oldbuck-he  had  turned  over  a  new  leaf  by 
takuig  off  both  his  hat  and  coat,  and  remarked,  as  we  shot  a 
rapid, "  Let  her  went !" 

The  Indians  were  returning  up  the  St.  John  to  their  homes 
m  the  icy  regions,  having  disposed  of  their  furs  at  the  Mhi- 
gan  tair,  and  laid  in  a  winter  sui)ply  of  flour  and  salt. 

It  was  all  vain  to  look  kindly  to  these  Esquimaux  squaws 
who  are  really  beautiful,  with  their  olive  complexions,  raven 
locks,  and  lustrous  eyes.  They  are  wedded  to  the  forest  We 
met  some  twenty  odd  Indian  canoes  ascending  the  river  to 
their  homes,  who  knew  enough  of  English  to  ask  "Salmon 
plenty  V"  But  very  few  would  make  so  bold  as  to  ask  "  Has 
you  nothing  good  for  me?"  Of  course  they  do  not  supi.ose 
It  degrading  to  beg  from  civilizvd  men,  for  they  consider 


■  I 


Welcomed  by  the  Dogs. 


266 

them  as  appertaining  to  the  outer  world.  I  was  greatly 
amused  by  their  appearances.  There  were  many  young  men 
among  ,,        „,„  ^,5^^,^^^^,  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ,^  ^^^  arrangfment 

then-  han-;  and  some  of  the  squaws  had  heads  of  loclcs 
worth  diamonds,  and  for  whieh  many  of  our  belles  would 
swap  then-  eye-teeth,  of  best  manufacture,  for  similar  heads 
of  natural  growth. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  the  dogs  eame 
ftom  some  thn-ty  cabins  to  welcon.e  us.     They  were  of  all 

come.     The  sight  and  hospitable  bark  of  our  own  kind  of 
clogs  g  addened  our  eyes  and  ears,  producing  a  ch.arming  ef- 

quarte.s  of  the  government  agent,  while  our  guides  attended 

to  landing  our  luggage  and  cutting  fir-boughs  for  our  bed, 

we  join  ed  our  trout-rods,  and  walked  a  short  distance  f^m 

he  eabm  to  the  sandy  shore  of  the  river,  where,  within  tZ 

y  mmutes,we  took  over  fifty  sea  trout 'aveiWing  a  ^o,    d 

each.     I  fi-equently  fastened  two  at  a  time  on  the  same  cast  ■ 

of  files  with  which  I  had  last  fished  on  Long  Island. 

SECTION  TENTH. 
THE  SH,VEB  OK  SEJ  TKOUT. 

Tins  fish  mhabits  for  nearly  half  the  year  the  tidal  water, 
of  the  streams  m  Canada,  Nova  Seotia,  and  Newfounlland 

-:tc:e^t™L":tadS^^^^^^^ 

I  -t  beg  humbly  to  dissent;  anTlfttf    Xl: 
oiiption  I  myite  anglers  to  decide  for  themselves  wht-tllr 
the  sea  trout  ,s  not  the  Sal^nofonHnall.,  or  brook  trc^^   com 
mon  to  the  streams  of  the  northern  part  of  North  Imeri" 

nrs":n  t' :  rr:  ■  ;:':r' ''-"n-'  "~'™'-^ 

X.  *,     ,       ,  a(Jo\e  thu  lateral  lijiu  arc  like  tlioso 

of  the  brook  treat,  its  vermilion,  white,  and  amber  dots  "re 


•    II 


1 


256 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


■'  1 


like  the  brook  trout's ;  its  fins  are  like  those  of  the  brook 
trout,  even  to  the  square  or  slightly  lunate  end  of  tail.  It  has 
the  amber  back  and  silver  sides  of  such  brook  trout  as  have 
access  to  the  estuary  food  of  the  eggs  of  different  fishes,  the 
young  of  herring,  mackerel,  smelt,  spearing,  shrimp,  and  even 
the  young  of  its  own  family  and  those  of  the  salmon.  Ow- 
ing to  this  food,  it  becomes  whitei-  and  brighter  than  those 


The  SiLviiK  ok  Hex  THovr.—lrtitta  Argenfina  or  Trutta  marina. 

trout  which  inhabit  swampy  winters  impregnated  and  discol- 
ored by  decayed  vegetable  matter,  where  the  trout  are  con- 
fined without  the  power  of  visiting  salt  water.  All  the  au- 
thorities agree  that  the  sea  trout  spawns  at  the  heads  of 
fresh-w.iter  streams,  ascending  from  the  estuary  in  August, 
and  not  returning  until  the  following  winter  and  sprino-. 
All  brook  trout  visit  the  heads  of  streams  in  autumn,  and 
return  to  the  lower  waters  at  the  close  of  winter.  Brook 
trout  of  mountainous  regions,  Avhere  the  streams  run  through 
rocky  defiles  and  mountain  gorges,  or  through  a  sandy  soil, 
are  always  brighter  thar.  the  black-mouthed  trout  of  hemlock 
and  tamarack  swamps.  I  am  informed  that,  of  fifteen  trout- 
lakes  in  a  certain  part  of  Scotland,  there  are  not  two  lakes 
which  contain  trout  entirely  similar.  Even  the  famous  Gil- 
laroo  trout,  which  some  anglers  suppose  to  have  a  gizzard, 
has  merely  a  lump  in  its  stomach  formed  by  the  peculiarity 
of  the  clay  and  other  substances  on  which  it  feeds.  In  the 
United  States  and  the  Caimdus  we  have  the  salmon,  the  sal- 


■■ 


Choice  Heshsek  of  a  Fiest  Familv,  257 

mon-t.-„ut  of  the  lakes,  the  brook  trout,  the  silver  or  sea 
trout,  w  h,eh  I  believe  to  be  the  brook  tro,  t,  the  who  trout 

*-«.),  the  Maekuaw  trout,  the  wi„„i„i.,h,  and  the  red  trout 
of  Long  Lake.     All  these  fishes  have  the  adipose  seeond  do 
.al,  a  e  ,.n,kj..„eatod,and  the  laminary  tiakes  are  separated 
by  a  thin  curd  or  creamy  substance 

The  real  salmon  of  different  waters  do  not  differ  so  much  in 
hape  and  surface-marks  as  do  either  the  brook  trout  or  the 
Wc  trout,  though  old  fishermen  in  Canada  can  distin..u  sh 
by  the  app..aranee  of  a  salmon  to  what  river  it  belong:  o 
they  say,  ■  least.  Twenty-five  salmon  of  some  rivers  Im 
m  a  barrel,  while  of  those  from  other  rivers  from  forty   o 

^fdllr.™'^''"'''"™-'^''^'"^'--^^^^^^^^ 
of  ae  St'^'T  ™"*'r''  *"  '"'^  "•""'  '^""y  »*  the  mouth 

1*1  tt\tt;":s"ri;r^"Ti;rv  '°"^"''  ^™'  "- 

beautifid,  being^,h™;  t^tun  Vuri'ts'LUtd'" s'T' 
gtaening  brightly  with  a  satin  sheen  ^lieh'sp  S,!: 
glowmg  lustre  in  the  light.  Its  superior  condition  Ld  I 
''f""f'   '"^  'rl  ™'-y  ''"*y'  ">"1  the  play  very  vigorous 

and  leapiiiiv  at  them  for  a  tisfo     Tt  «  „  •  •     ^         ' 

41  •'  lasto.     Jt  was  surpris  no-  to  nnfp 

he  exeuement  wineh  fiy-fishing  fortrout  prodtleed  a«e 

eod.flsh„,g  femibes.    Men,  women,  and  children  followed  us 

incie  was  a  fieet  of  some  sixty  sail  of  cod  fishermen  in  the 
place,  and  their  hired  hands  "  shammed  Abram  to  be"dk"  t 

;*;      l7  '"  '"'"  '""'  ™  "'"■  "'^  ''-  "-  -"-fto  tf  t 
wate,.     It  ,,,,        ^,,y  ^_^^,^_.  ^^  ^^^^  ._^  ^^^ 

of  trout  running  from  half  a  pound  to  fourpounds.    The  wa 
terwas  so  perfectly  clear  that  we  could  occasionally  perceive 

II 


258 


FisiiiNG  IN  Amekican  Watees. 


;i  lordly  salmon  move  majestically  amon^  the  speckled  beau- 
ties, no  doubt  waiting  for  a  sliower  to  swell  the  waters,  and 
enable  hiiu  to  start  on  his  j^erilous  voyage  to  the  spawning- 
grounds  near  tlie  head  of  the  river.  As  we  were  fisiiing  from 
the  beach  which  forms  the  breakwater  at  the  mouth  of  the 
8t.  John,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  a  thirty-pound  sal- 
mon swimming  along  slowly  toward  the  mouth,  and  within 
easy  casting  distance  for  my  single-banded  trout-rod.  As  I 
was  admiring  him,  he  chanced  to  see  my  motion  in  casting, 
and  dashed  away  into  tlio  sparkling  surf  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river. 

Taking  trout  with  the  fly  is  always  more  or  less  interest- 
ing, but,  as  a  branch  of  sport,  it  dwindles  greatly  on  return- 
ing from  a  successful  trip  of  angling  for  salmon.  Uroadway 
is  beautiful  to  those  Avho  have  never  visited  Paris ;  but  on 
returning  from  the  BoHlevards,  the  Champs  Ely  sees,  and  the 
Bois  de  Boidogne,  the  beauties  which  he  contemplated  with 
admiration  before  he  loft  New  York  lack  the  charm  of  artist- 
ic finish  and  the  picturesque  variety  which  youth  always  per- 
ceives, but  Avhich  age  or  experience  can  not  discover  even 
with  the  aid  of  alasses. 


1? 


THE   "VVIIITE   TROUT. 

While  the  fog  is  lifting  from  Schoodic  Lake, 
And  the  white  trout  are  leaping  for  flies, 

It's  exciting  sport  these  beauties  to  take. 
Jogging  the  nerves  and  feasting  the  eyes. 

This  trout  inhabits  Schoodic  and  Grand  Lakes  in  the  State 
of  Maine.  Although  it  is  eminently  a  lake  fish,  yet  it  is  found 
in  the  tributaries  and  outlets  near  the  lakes  named.  It  is 
similar  to  the  hirling  in  Scotland  in  the  peculiarity  of  its 
mea^  arying  from  cream  to  mallow  color.  The  average  size 
of  the  white  trout  is  from  three  to  five  pounds'  Aveight,  and 
in  outline  it  is  between  the  salmon  and  the  brook  trout,  with 
the  top  of  head  and  color  of  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  black  and 
lustrous  as  velvet,  the  latter  crescent-shaped,  with  jet  spots 


"(f 


Gamy  asd  Beautifcl. 


2S9 

with  tooth  on  tl,o  palato,  tongue,  vomorino,  palatine,  and  max- 
'llary,  l,ko  those  of  the  brook  trout,  or  as  are  nearly  air^he 
you„«  of  the  Salmomace;  but  ,ts  head  i.  long;  tL    ' ,  a 

salmon  ..    Its  s.  ale,  arc  small,  and  the  body  is  entirely  white 

mg  »"!■  netalhc  Instre.  It  is  better  game  than  any  other 
lak  ianuly  of  the  ycu.cs  tialmo,  and  will  readily  take  the  fly 
on  the  surface  of  the  water     Win,  „  ,       i      ,   ,  ^ 

fifteen  f,.„,  l„  "  two-handed  trout-rod, 

leTn  f '=','"'  "'  »"'«•««"  ""Skilled  in  fly-ii.l,i„„  ,,a,  taken 
over  a  hundred  n,  three  hours  of  these  transeend™t  beauties 


The  Whitk  ntom.—Salmo  alius. 


Some  persons  have  supposed  this  1 '  e  beauty  "a  land- 
locLod  sahuon,"  than  which  nothing  c.u  be  mucl,  more  ab- 
suM  lor  It  has  the  common  egress  of  a  commodious  river 
wnch  debouches  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  while  those  of  the 
lakes  m  the  provinces  have  equally  favorable  avenues  of  es- 
cape. JS^o,  It  IS  a  comparatively  new  luxury  to  the  American 
angler,  and  well  worthy  his  attention. 

Though  many  anglers  use  a  two-handed  fly-rod  for  takin<r 
the  white  trout,  yet  it  is  more  artistic  to  use  a  half  pound  flv"- 
rod  and  smgle  fly;  the  cinnamon,  Montreal  with  claret  body 
and  brown  mallard  wing,  with  the  yellow  and  blue  profes- 
sors are  all  the  flies  needed  for  any  weather,  though  the 
coachman  of  white  wing  and  peacock's  herl  body  is  a  ^ood 
sunset  fly,  and  the  red  ibis  wing  with  silver  body  sometimes 
tokos  very  well. 

The  late  Kev.  Dr.  Rothiine  regarded  this  flsh  and  its  sport- 
ive ways  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  borders  of  Schoodic  lakes 


St 

lii 

iii' 


! ; 


260 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


and  the  St.  Croix  River  still  retain  many  marks  of  his  en- 
campments. The  approaches  to  these  grounds  are  via  East- 
port  or  Calais,  Maine.  At  either  of  these  places  the  angler 
will  find  guides  to  the  aromatic  groves  which  overlook  the 
waters  where  the  white  trout  disport  in  shoals  of  thousands. 

THE   WINNINISII. 

**  At  early  dawn,  or  rather  when  the  air, 

Glimmering  with  fading  light,  and  shadowy  eve 
Is  busiest  to  confer  and  to  bereave. 

Then,  pensive  votary,  let  thy  feci  repair 

To  silent  lakes,  or  gentle  river  fair." 

This  fish  belongs  to  the  genus  Salmo,  and  tenants  the  up- 
per waters  of  the  Saguenay,  near  the  outlet  of  Lake  St.  John, 
in  Canada.  The  fish  runs  from  three  to  nine  pounds'  weight ; 
and  as  no  very  young  members  of  the  family  nor  the  spawn- 
ino--beds  have  been  seen  by  the  habitans  and  Indians  of  that 
region,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  they  breed  farther  north; 
and  as  they  have  a  dorsal  fin  like  that  of  the  grayling,  it  is 
quite  probable  that  it  is  the  fish  written  of  by  an  officer  of 
the  expedition  in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  whose  descrip- 
tion made  "  Frank  Forrester"  suppose  it  to  be  an  American 
grayling.  But  it  is  neither  the  grayling  nor  the  omble  chev- 
alier, but  a  rare  delicacy  of  the  frozen  latitudes  of  the  Cana- 
dian forests.  Professor  Agassiz  is  said  to  have  named  it  the 
Northern  charr. 


The  Winninish. 


The  fins  of  the  winninish,  being  large  in  proportion  to  its 
size,  render  it  very  gamy.     It  sails  near  the  surface,  with  the 


■ 


top  of  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  in 


view,  and  when  it  takes  the 


Ve;ry  EAiiE  Delicacies.  261 

fly,  leaps,  runs,  and  plays  more  vigorously  than  a  grilse.  The 
tish  is  gray  on  its  back  and  sides,  interspersed  with  white 
scales,  all  of  which  are  small,  but  brilliant.  Epicures  regard 
the  wmninish  as  a  higher  luxury  than  either  the  brook  trout 
or  salmon.  Its  head  resembles  the  trout,  but  the  mouth  is 
larger,  and  equally  tough  for  holding  a  hook.  The  meat  is 
pmk-colored.  It  takes  either  the  minnow  or  the  fly  gener- 
ously. Fish-culturists  might  with  advantage  turn  their  at- 
tention to  the  winninish  and  the  white  trout. 

Lake  Teout  of  Moosehead  Lake.— This  trout  is  unlike 
any  other  in  the  American  waters.     It  is  round  in  body,  and 
resembles  the  winninish  in  large  first  dorsal  and  large  tail. 
Its  meat  is  straw-colored,  and  on  each  side  below  the  gUls  are 
five  or  six  dark  spots  the  size  of  peas,  and  like  those  on  the 
shad.    It  IS  clad  in  small  scales,  dark  on  the  back,  orange 
sides,  and  belly  like  the  doree  or  common  river  pickerel     Be- 
ing so  excellent  a  dinner-fish,  it  is  surprising  that  the  markets 
ot  Maine  continue  to  monopolize  it  to  the  exclusion  of  epi- 
cures in  other  states.    It  is  caught  by  the  hand-line,  as  other 
lake  trout. 

BED  TEOTJT   OF  LONG  LAKE. 
"  I  see  the  bright  trout  springing 

Wliere  the  wave  is  dark,  yet  clear, 
And  a  myriad  flies  are  winging, 

As  if  to  tempt  him  near. 
With  the  lucid  waters  blending, 

The  Adllow  shade  yet  floats, 
From  beneath  whose  quiet  bending 

I  used  to  launch  my  boats." 

This  is  the  richest  and  most  beautiful  specimen  of  lake 
trout  known  in  the  State  of  New  York.  In  outline  it  resem- 
bles  the  brook  trout  which  have  access  to  marine  feeding- 
grounds,  except  in  the  tail,  which  is  forked.  In  color  it  is  a 
reddish-brown  on  the  back,  mellowing  to  a  pink  at  the  sides 
and  a  belly  of  white  with  pink  tinge.  The  whole  of  its  sur- 
face.  fiYrpnf.  it.a  lioo/I  0-.-./1  'u^n^  ;„  ii-.-.i  i      -^   ,.    ->      .  , 

clotted  with  orange 


specks  about  the  size  of  pigeon-shot.     Li  2  the  trout  of 


all 


I  ■  i 


I      '  f 

I    I! 


262 


Fishing  iw  American  Watkrs„ 


the  lakes,  its  scales  are  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible, 
but  its  body  is  marked  with  fine,  transverse  diagonal  lines' 
forming  diamonds  or  canvas  like  the  surface  of  fine  drilling 
or  marsoilles.  This  is  an  unfailing  mark  of  peculiarity.  Its 
meat  is  pink-colored,  with  rich  layers  of  cream  between  its 
Hakes. 


Red  Trout  of  Long  Lake. 


The  red  trout  will  rise  to  the  artificial  fly,  take  a  feathered 
spoon  or  well-dissembled  minnow.  Trolling  is  the  favorite 
mode  of  fishing  for  this  beauty,  whose  average  weight  is  from 
five  to  fifteen  pounds.  It  is  very  gamy,  displaying  much 
muscular  force  and  propulsive  power  in  its  runs  and  leaps. 
To  angle  for  the  red  trout  is  worth  a  voyage  to  the  Adiron- 
<lacks  in  June  and  July.  It  is  fine  sport  to  use  salmon-tackle 
and  take  him  on  the  fly  until  fatigued,  when  the  exercise  may 
be  changed  to  trolling. 

There  is  a  universe  of  pent-up  luxuries  for  the  sportsman 
in  that  ninety-two  miles  square  known  as  the  Adirondacks, 
in  the  heart  of  the  State  of  New  York.     A  hundred  moun- 
tains t^hade  as  many  lakes,  which  teem  with  living  beauties 
too  rich  in  coloring  and  symmetrical  in  foi-m  to  be  copied  by 
the  painter's  art.     All  the  American  varieties  of  the  Salmo 
genus  except  the  salar  are  found  in  these  lakes  and  their  trib- 
utaries, with  the  palpitations  of  busy  life  shut  out,  and  naught 
but  a  simple  tenting  residence  on  aromatic  boughs  for  a  bod, 
where  the  timid  deer  comes  with  her  spotted  fawn  to  the 
margii;  of  the  lake  to  drink,  and  hesitatingly  trusts  the  cross- 
paths  of  men.     The  eagles  soar  aloft  in  the  heavens  above 
the  blue  summits  of  cloud-capped  mountains  which  seem  to 
jostle  each  other.     Imagination  is  not  sufliciently  vivid  to 


■ 


■ 


The  Home  of  a  Sportsman.  263 

realize  the  sense  inspired  in  the  Adirondacks  by  a  sunrise 
scene.  The  owl  has  ceased  to  hoot,  the  whip-poor-will  to 
sing,  the  panther  to  scream,  and  the  wolves  to  howl;  but  the 
sun  lights  up  each  bush  and  spray,  and  the  shadows  and 
mountains  form  majestic  basins.  Now  the  brook  trout  are 
busy,  and  the  day-birds  are  musical. 

Here,  in  these  narrow  lakes  of  pure  water,  fed  by  trout- 
brooks,  the  gentle  angler  takes  his  morning  walk,  where  the 
breaks  of  speckled  beauties  enliven  the  waters  with  hopeful 
expectancy,  and  naught  disturbs  the  tranquillity,  richness 
and  grandeur  of  primeval  nature.  Here  the  poet,  painter  or 
philosopher  may  inflate  the  soul  and  invigorate  the  body'  so 
that,  on  returning  to  the  busy  world,  he  may  be  the  better 
able  to  endure  its  chafings  and  contests  for  another  year. 

TROUT   OF   SENECA   AND  CANANDAIGUA  LAKES. 
'•  The  generous  gushing  of  the  springs, 
When  the  angler  goes  a-trolling ; 
The  stir  of  song  and  summer  wings, 
The  light  which  shines,  and  life  which  sings. 
Make  earth  replete  with  happy  things 
When  the  angler  goes  a-trolling.  "—Stoddart. 
This  fish  spawns  in  October  and  November,  or  when  other 
faixuhes  of  tlie  genus  Salmo  do ;  is  white-mouthed  and  pinky- 
meated.     Its  qualities,  outlines,  and  superficial  marks  are  as 
varied  as  are  its  edible  qualities.     All  anglers  know  that 
these  depend  much  on  the  quality  of  water  they  inhabit  and 
the  food  they  eat.     In  the  latter  ]3articular  they  resemble  all 
animals  and  fishes.     There  are  salmon-trout  in  nearly  every 
lake  within  the  State  of  New  York;  but  the  fish  of  Seneca, 
Canandaigua,  Skaneateles,  and  Long  Lake  are  infinitely  supe- 
rior, both  as  game  and  for  the  table,  to  those  of  Lake  Onta- 
rio and  the  other  great  lakes. 

The  color  of  this  fish  is  a  drab,  with  pink  tinge  from  the 
back  two  thirds  down  each  side,  shaded  with  vermiculate 
marks,  and  covered  with  infinitesimal  scales,  like  the  com- 
mon LAKE  TROUT.     The  fins  are  like  those  of  the  brook  trout 


if 


264 


Fishing  in  Amkrican  "VVators. 


except  the  caudal,  which  is  forked.  Tlio  head  resemhles  the 
brook  trout's,  even  to  tlie  teetli.  By  8ome  persons  this  fish 
is  supposed  to  be  a  land-locked  salmon ;  but  it  is  a  distinct 
family  of  the  genus  Salmo^  though  in  principal  outward  marks 
of  characterization  it  resembles  the  salmon-trout  of  Ontario 
and  tlie  other  great  lakes,  diftering  because  of  inhabithig  lim- 
])id  spring  waters  with  better  food. 


Trout  of  Seneca  and  Caylg.v  Lakes.— Aii'a///w  cunjinis. 

In  May,  after  the  waters  become  settled  and  clear,  these 
fish  are  taken  by  trolling  with  spinning-tackle  and  minnow 
bait.  It  is  necessary  to  sink  the  bait  near  the  bottom,  and, 
as  the  trout  remain  near  shore  until  June,  a  light  sinker  will 
be  sufficient ;  btit  when  the  weather  becomes  quite  Avarm 
they  resort  to  a  feeding-level  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet 
below  the  surface,  where  they  are  taken  by  trolling  with 
feathered  squids.  The  lino  should  be  two  hundred  yards 
long,  of  the  size  used  for  catching  cod,  and  from  twelve  feet 
above  the  hook  to  twenty-five  feet  leads  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
thick  are  rolled  at  intervals  on  the  Hne,  sometimes  to  the 
weight  of  a  pound.  Row  slowly,  and  let  out  line  until  you 
get  a  bite,  and  then  calculate  the  depth  to  the  feeding-level, 
as  the  water  in  some  places  is  a  thousand  feet  deep. 

Baiting  the  buoy  and  fishing  with  a  drop-line  is  also  prac- 
ticed with  success,  though  none  of  these  methods  of  taking 
lake  trout  are  very  attractive  to  the  angler. 

THE    MACKINAW  TROUT. 

This  trout  is  the  largest  of  the  genus  in  American  waters, 
generally  running  from  two  to  five  feet  in  length,  and  weigh- 
ing from  fifteen  to  fifty  pounds,  though  Dr.  Mitch  ill  states 


A  Luxury  of  the  Noktiiwest.  265 

that  it  sometimes  attains  to  the  weitflit  of  120  ])ounds      It  is 
Clark  colored  on  the  back,  sides,  dorsal  and  caudal  fins,  mel- 
lowmg  off  from  the  lateral  lines  to  a  white  or  creamy  belly 
Vermiculate  marks  cover  its  back  and  sides.     The  second 
•lorsal,  like  that  of  all  the  ^almonklw,,  is  adipose.     Pectoral 
ventral,  and  anal  fins  light  cream  color,  as  are  also  the  irides' 


The  Mackinaw  Tkout.— ,b«//«(,  «/««/%*<««.— MitchiU. 
As  this  trout  inhabits  the  jdeep  pools  in  the  cold  lakes 
from  Huron  to  the  frigid  zone,  its  meat  is  firm,  and  the  fish 
18  highly  prized  by  epicures.     It  is  sometimes  taken  as  far 
south  as  the  Ohio  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  either  by  trollino-  with 
a  minnow  or  a  feathered  spoon,  or  with  cisco  and  yount-  lake 
herrings-all  captivating  lures.     There  are  many  taken  with 
gill-nets  and  set-lines  in  deep  water,  as  also  with  hand-lines 
by  previously  sinking  a  large  stone  with  a  rope  attached  and 
at  the  other  end  of  the  rope  fasten  a  buoy,  and  for  several 
days  cast  in  butchers'  offal  by  the  buoy  until  it  is  supposed 
the  fish  are  chummed  to  that  place  as  a  feeding-ground,  when 
—with  large  hook,  heavy  sinker,  and  codfish  line— the 'fisher 
with  the  hand-line  takes  them  as  fast  as  he  can  bait  and  land 
them.     This  killing  method  is  a  favorite  one  with  many  men 
who  fish  for  lake  trout  to  sell,  but  it  is  very  unsportsman- 
like.   In  winter  it  is  taken  on  hooks  baited  with  pork  throuo-h 
lioles  cut  in  the  ice  for  the  purpose.     The  best  places  to  ali- 
gle  for  this  luxury,  either  with  the  troll  or  hand-line,  is  in 
Lakes  Huron,  Superior,  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw  and  Green 
Bay ;  from  the  latter  water,  Chicago,  Galena,  and  many  towns 
m  the  mterior  of  Wisconsin  are  supplied.     In  fishing  throu-h 
the  ice,  when  a  fisherman  gets  a  bite,  he  throws  the  line  ovm- 
his  shoulder  and  walks  away  from  the  hole,  drawing  the  fish 


2G6 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Wateks. 


i 


lii 


rapidly  uj^  and  out  on  the  ico,  where  it  is  left  to  freeze.  Be- 
sides the  thousands  of  them  transported  every  winter  in  a 
frozen  state,  many  are  salted  and  shipped  off  in  the  sprino-. 
This  trout  is  the  most  voracious  of  all  the  species,  fattening 
on  such  delicate  luxuries  as  herrings,  ciscos,  and  whitefish. 

SECTION  ELEVENTH. 

AMERICAN   PICKEREL,  OR   PIKE. 

By  blue  lake  marge,  upon  whose  breast 
The  water-lilies  love  to  rest, 
Lurking  beneath  those  leaves  of  green 
The  fierce  pike  seeks  his  covert  screen, 
And  thence  with  sudden  plunge  and  leaj), 
Swift  as  II  shaft  through  air  may  sweep, 
He  seizes,  rends,  and  bears  away 
To  hidden  lair  his  struggling  prey. 

This  fish,  like  the  brook  trout,  is  almost  universally  known. 
It  inhabits  nearly  all  the  waters  of  the  north  temperate  zone, 
and  varies  in  appearance  accordhig  to  its  food,  and  the  vol- 
ume and  quality  of  the  water  in  which  it  is  found.  The  large 
pickerel  taken  in  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  in  many  Cana- 
dian waters  is  called  by  some  the  "  great  Northern  i)ike,"  of 
the  famWj  Usocidce,  supposed  to  be  unlike  the  common  pike 
or  pickerel,  or  Esox  Lucius ;  but  throughout  twenty  years' 
experience  at  taking  pickerel,  I  have  been  unable  to  discover 
a  very  marked  difference  between  the  Northern  pike  and  the 
pickerel  south  of  the  St=  Lawrence. 


Amkhican  Pickerkl,  oil  Pike. 

"  The  pike  is  the  Englisli  name  of  a  fish  belonging  to  the 
order  Malacoptcrygii,  section  Abdomiuales,'  family  Esocidte, 
and  genus  Esox." 

The  pickerel  or  pike  spawns  in  March  and  April,  and  should 
not  be  caught  between  January  and  July.     In  England  it 


1 


i 


One  of  the  American  Fishes.  267 

sometimes  attains  to  the  weight  of  sixty  pomids,  and  in  Nor- 
way it  occasionally  rises  to  a  hundred  pounds,  and  more  than 
eight  feet  in  length,  while  in  America  it  is  quite  rare  to  take 
one  ot  more  than  twenty  pounds'  weight. 

OF   PICKEREL,  AND   ANGLING   FOR   THEM. 

isH  of  this  family  are  known 
in  the  United  States  by  the 
name  of  pickerel,  which  is  the 
name  in  England  for  a  dimin- 
utive pike.    All  pike,  after  ris- 
ing above  the  pickerel  weight, 
and  under  five  pounds,  in  En- 
gland, are  known  as  "  Jack," 
probably  named  after  a  poach- 
er by  the  name  of  Jack  Pike. 
In  the  waters  of  the  East- 
ern, Middle,  and  Western 
States,  as  also  throughout  the 

,  .  .  Dominion  of  Canada^thepick- 

uel  IS    ound  m  most  of  the  lakes,  ponds,  and  some  rivers- 
especially  is  it  numerous  fn  ponds  where  surface-water  pre^ 

exruXr''  '"'^  ^^  '''''"  '^""'^"''^  '^''  ''^'^'"  families  are 
The  meat  of  small  pickerel  is  mealy,  fresh,  and  without  de- 
cided flavor,  when-because  of  its  yellow  color-it  is  called 
doree;  but  those  from  three  pounds  upward,  taken  in  pure 
water,  may  be  justly  considered  a  good  breakfast-fish.     The 
pickerel  of  Greenwood  Lake  arc  good,  because  the  food  is 
abundant,  and  trout  rills  drop  into  the  lake  from  every  direc 
.1011.     As  the  lake  is  only  00  miles  from  New  York,  I  used  to 
take  a  seat  ,n  an  evening  train  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  arrivino- 
in  Chester  at  7  P.M.,  and  drive  down  ton  miles  to  the  lake  in 
ime  to  give  Jack-the  baitman-orders  to  have  all  things 
eady  nnd  call  me  at  five  next  morning.     Tap-tap-tup  at  my 
chamber  door  announced  that  it  was  five,  and  nothino-  more 


I 


268 


FisHmG  IN  American  Watebs. 


V'  ■■ 


Forthwith  1  mounted  my  toggery,  took  a  cracker,  and  fol- 
lowed Jack  to  the  boat,  where  all  things  were  in  readiness, 
and  he  sculled  me  out  to  a  raft  or  tloat  on  the  lake,  which  had 
been  anchored  at  one  of  the  best  feeding-places  for  the  long- 
noses.  Leaving  me  with  my  half  dozen  poles,  ten  feet  long 
each,  and  a  pail  of  live  minnows.  Jack  returned  to  the  shore. 

Among  the  numerous  methods  of  still-baiting  for  pickerel, 
that  from  an  anchored  float  is  the  most  quiet  and  easy.  As 
I  was  attaching  a  line  to  each  pole,  a  deer,  Avith  elegant  but 
timid  tread,  came  to  the  margin  of  the  lake  and  took  a  drink. 
It  was  September — a  month  for  excellent  venison ;  but  then 
he  was  too  pretty  and  innocent-looking  to  kill,  and,  though 
within  short  range,  I  had  no  rifle  with  me.  Tlie  god  of  day 
had  not  yet  appeared,  but  the  merry  songsters  made  the 
copse  and  fields  joyous.  To  each  stout  pole  I  tied  a  line, 
three  feet  longer  than  the  pole,  and  at  the  end  of  each  I  at- 
tached a  gimp-snelled  hook,  and  covered  the  connection  of 
line  and  snell  Avith  a  small  strip  of  sheet  lead.  The  water 
was  from  seven  to  nine  feet  deep,  and  for  a  float  I  tied  a  piece 
of  pine  shingle,  which  produced  no  resistance  to  a  bite,  but 
merely  kept  the  bait  a  foot  above  the  bottom.  The  shingle- 
float  was  ten  inches  long,  two  inches  wide  at  the  thin,  feath- 
ered end,  and  tapered  to  a  point,  being  half  an  inch  square  at 
the  end  where  I  made  the  notch  and  tied  the  line. 

In  still-baiting  for  pickerel,  if  the  fish  takes  the  bait,  and 
learns  that  it  is  anchored  or  not  at  liberty,  the  fish  at  once 
rejects  it ;  but  by  means  of  the  sharp-ended  float  no  percep- 
tible resistance  is  offered,  and  the  pickerel  swims  off"  toward 
a  convenient  place  to  gorge  it.  Tliere  were  places  arranged 
on  the  float  for  properly  setting  the  poles,  and  arm-chairs  at 
intervals  invited  to  rest  between  bites.  By  the  time  I  had 
baited  my  sixth  hook  and  set  my  last  pole,  I  saw  the  sliingle- 
float  to  one  of  my  lines  tip  up  a  trifle,  and  glide  along  the 
surface  of  the  water,  sinking  gradually  as  it  moved.  I  gave 
a  sudden  jerk  with  the  pole  to  an  opposite  direction  from 
that  which  the  float  was  moving,  aud  thus  hooked  and  landed 


How  TO  ENJOY  A  Bkeakfast.  269 

on  the  raft  a  four-pound  pickerel.  Before  I  had  baited  again, 
another  float  gave  signs  of  agitation,  and  I  landed  another.' 
Jack,  who  had  observed  my  success,  now  sculled  alongside, 
and  took  the  two  pickerel  to  be  prepared  for  breakfast." 

I  continued  fishing  and  admiring  the  scenery,  with  the 
tops  of  the  mountains  just  beginning  to  be  illuminated  by 
the  rays  of  a  bright  sunrise,  and  the  pickerel  accepted  my  of- 
ferings most  voraciously,  so  that  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  most 
successful  contest  when  the  horn  blew  for  breakfast.  After 
fastening  my  rods  securely  to  the  float,  and  seeing  that  each 
hook  was  well  baited,  I  sculled  ashore  for  breakfast. 

On  that  lovely  morning  the  sun  seemed  to  have  decked  all 
nature  in  holiday  costume.  After  a  refreshing  bath,  on  en- 
tering the  hall  leading  to  the  dining-room,  in  the  fragrant 
aroma  of  the  coftee  I  scented  a  welcome.  The  pickerel,  which 
had  been  first  ^roiled  or  singed  on  the  flesh  side  to  prevent 
the  juice  from  escaping,  was  turned,  and  with  a  renewal  of 
hickory-wood  coals  was  "  done  to  a  turn."  Fresh  butter,  red 
pepper,  and  a  dash  of  black  pepper  for  its  aroma,  prepared 
the  melting  delicacy  for  the  table.  The  smoke  of  the  viands, 
fish,  and  of  the  tureen  of  mashed  potatoes,  with  the  fragrant 
cofiee,  greeted  the  senses  like  incense,  and  filled  the  measure 
of  my  hope  and  ambition. 

After  breakfast,  a  walk  on  the  veranda,  the  discussion  of 
a  cabana,  and  a  look  at  the  morning  papers,  which  had  al- 
ready been  received  from  the  city,  made  me  again  anxious  to 
try  the  metal  of  those  sly  and  peering  long-noses.  Adjourn- 
ing to  the  hotel  at  eleven  o'clock,  forty-four  pickerel  included 
my  mess,  and,  partaking  of  an  attractive  lunch,  I  returned  to 
New  York  City  in  time  to  dine  at  seven  in  the  evening. 


270 


FisiimG  In  Amekican  Waters. 


i 


SKITTERING*   FOR   PICKEREL    AMONG  THE   LILY-PADS. 

'  •  Now  changed  the  tackle  and  the  bait ; 
For  larger  i)rey  we're  all  elate ; 
'Mong  lily-pads  none  vainly  tries ; 
The  line  runs  off — a  noble  prize ! 
Give  time  to  poach — now  strike ! 

"  Now  seeks  his  haunt  the  wounded  prey, 
And  then  begins  the  angler's  play ; 
rie  lengthens  out,  now  slackens  line, 
Till  struggles  past — a  welcome  sign — 
He  lands  a  glorious  pike ! 

Chorus. — The  jolly  angler's  is  the  life, 

Devoid  of  care,  devoid  of  strife." 

Angling  for  pickerel  among  the  lily-pads  and  pickerel-weed 
is  very  exciting  sport.  The  angler  should  use  u  rod  from  1 3 
to  1 5  feet  long,  flexible,  but  strong.  For  skittering  a  float 
is  not  used,  nor  is  natural  bait  the  best.  Use  Buel's  or 
M'Harg's  spoons,  mounted  Avith  red  ibis  feather,  and  white 

■"  Skittering  is  a  word  which  belongs  to  an  angler's  vocabulary,  but  not 
found  in  a  dictionary.  It  means  drawing  or  jerking  n  bait  along  the  top  of 
the  water. 


Quiet  Scenery  and  Active  Sport.  271 

tt'w  Z  ''"  ""  ""=  """"'  ^'"^  °f  *•"=  ^P--     stand  near 
the  bow  of  year  p„„t,  and  skitte,-  the  lure  along  the  surface 

of  the  water,  near  the  margins  of  the  lily-pads,  and  if  yon  are 
on  Sodus  Bay,  or  tempting  the  fish  from  almost  any  of  the 
bayous  of  Lake  Ontario,  you  will  find  eause  for  surprise  that 
w  foree  yon  to  ejaculate;  for  it  will  be  questionable  which 
mil  be  the  most  astonished,  the  novice  in  the  boat  or  that  in 
the  water.  A  most  important  essential  is  to  have  a  man  at 
the  stem  who  can  use  the  setting-pole  and  sculls  so  as  to  en- 
able you  to  fish  the  border  of  the  lily-pads  without  searing 
the  prey  mto  their  hiding-places.  '' 

Cuffy  says,  "Uf  we  had  de  gun,  we  might  git  a  mess  of 
.vooMuek."    I  reply, "  Confound  wood-duclc !  Don't  you  «e 
hat  the  large  p.ekerel  is  going  into  the  weeds,  and  tha 
can  not  prevent  him  ?    Turn  the  punt  from  shore." 

the  bet'"  n"°/'"  ^"'?'"'  '"*  "™  ">i™°-.the  shiner  is 
o      sp,„n  „g-tackle."    Keep  your  bait  in  motion,  upon  the 

s  the  favor-teplan  of  angling  for  pickerel  in  NewEn^and 
and  .s,  moreover,  essentially  modern,  and  affords  aetive°r«:;.t 


STILL-BAITING    FOR   PICKEREL. 

"The  angler  i.s  free 
From  the  cares  which  degree 
Finds  itself  with  so  often  tormented  ; 
And  although  we  should  slay 
Each  a  hundred  a  day, 
'Tis  a  slaughter  needs  ne'er  be  repented.  "-Cotton 
The  primitive  and  philosophical  method  of  an,li„g  for  pick- 
le  is  with  an  ash  or  hickory  pole.     The  bait  '^  ali."  W 
Of  course,  while  angling  in  this  way,  you  may  study  n.turf .' 

with  you,  for  they  are  frequently  unfathomable.     Seek  a  place 
on  the  margin  of  a  solitary  pond,  shut  out  from  th    h'bt 
tions  of  men  by  a  dense  grove.     Seat  yourself  on  son^e  flii;: 


i 


i 


272 


Fishing  in  Aaiekican  Waters. 


SX1LL-I5A1TING   FOK   JflCKEKEL. 


tree  of  ancient  renown,  and  there  beside  you  place  your  books. 
Then  bait  your  hook,  and  cast  it  off  among  the  lily-pads  or 
stumps  which  margin  the  pond,  and  gaze  away  on  vacancy. 
There  is  naught  set  down  against  smoking  at  such  a  place 
on  such  occasions.  Let  the  birds  bill  and  coo  in  the  grove 
behind  you,  and  if  your  mmd  is  intent  on  developing  a  new 
theory,  let  your  bait  crocp  up  on  a  stump  near  yon.  to  the 


The  contemplative  Piiilosowiek.  273 

envy  of  all  kingfishers  who  mav  covet  it  •  nn^  i..  v       .  i 
of  yo,...  afflatus  .LHe  H  watched  ^r :l;::t  ^     Cpt 

-id  that  sages  had  seen  them     D  s'l^f^^  t  r"  -?''"'" 
opinion  who  stated  that  the  solitudeXh  t  IT  ^ 

ways  „ea..  cities  o-  ia.,e  towns.    fJ'   ^  ^  '"  ^'" 


274 


Fishing  in  American  Wa' 


TERS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TROLLING  AMONG  THE  THOUSAND  ISLANDS. 

Here  is  the  angler's  paradise, 

A  dreaniiTig,  Eden-like  retreat, 
With  balmy  perfume  in  the  air, 
And  wild-flowers  springing  at  the  feet. 
All  the  charms  winch  angling  for  pickerel  confer  are  sub- 
hmated  and  condensed  into  trolling  among  the  Thousand  L'- 
•T  \  T^^P^^''^^^^1  «f  the  thousand  lucent  streams  and  rap- 
ids shaded  by  as  many  floral  islands,  are  much  better  flavor- 
ed than  are  those  which  dream  out  an  indolent  existence  while 
watching  for  frogs  among  the  lily-pads,  or  darting,  until  they 
wear  themselves  thin,  after  the  minnows  of  pond^and  rivers. 
Ihe  Thousand  Islands  extend  from  Cape  Vincent  to  a  few 
nules  below  Alexandria  Bay,  or  about  thirty  miles,  and  the 
HvcTage  width  of  river  is  about  five  miles.     Imagination  may 
better  picture  than  I  can  describe  the  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
of  trolling  and  casting  the  fly  on  streams  dividing  picturesque 
islands,  or  islets  covered  with  greensward  and  enlivened  by 


The  Quiet  and  Beautiful.  27S 

0„?W      Tf  ";      ""'^  '-'vcnwa,-,,.     This  cl„.n„i„g  Lnc  I 
™I.vonc.a  by  tho  wood-.luck  anU  other  bh.ls  ofgay  phil.  • 

,  ™"  ^-     ^'■'"""  tl"'  water  streets  of  Ve.iice  with  their  aoii- 
aoas,  nor  the  Hois  ,fc  y,„„,„,„,  ,,„,  ,,,  „.,„„„„,, '^I," 

l^h*;',:  Tr,"""  'f;:  '";"  '"""^'""».--  ="  «"  eo,n„ara  l 
witn  the  Ihoufsand  Islantls. 

From  Cape  Vineent  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Ogdensbtm. 
there  ,s  fl.hn.g  and  shooting  enongh  to  satisfy  all  tt.e  opie u- 
ean  lovers  of  field-sports  in  Ameriea,  did  they  but  know 
0  of  the  nches  of  land  and  water  whieh  their  oxeellent  fis 
and  game  otter  as  attraetions. 

The  Thousand  Islands  forms  the  most  extensive  spawnin... 
ground  between  the  Atlantie  and  the  great  ehain  If  Taker- 
there  are  numerous  eddies  and  shallow  sand-bars  among' 
these  tslands  where  the  wall-eyed  pike  and  blaek  bass  spaw  ^ 
but  the  fishermen  are  eomplaining  that  the  annual  diminu- 
t.on  m  ca  ehes  ealls  loudly  for  a  law  of  reeiproeal  proteetion 
between  the  Dominion  of  Canada  and  the  United  States.    If 

sandXt  f  ■*"  """  """'*■*"'  "''■'*  '■'■■^°^' '"  «-  Thou- 
sand Islands  to  spawn  were  allowed  to  breed-nnmolested  by 

net  or  spear-an  annual  stock  of  pickerel,  blaek  bass,  Hass- 

eyed  p,ke,  Oswego  bass,  and  fishes  of  smaller  varieties  wouhl 

ts':::!:""'' '"  ^'■'*"'™'  "™''^" '°  ^^--^ »"  «•«< 

All  the  little  towns  .along  the  Thousand  Islands  have  be- 
come attr.act,ve  summer  resorts.     It  was  here  that  Bishop 

On  visiti^^ig  the  Thousand  Islands  for  a  few  days'  reerea- 
t.on,  my  advice  is  to  go  in  p.airs.  A  gentleman  eLpaX , 
W.I1  answer,  but  ,  lady  is  better.     Clayton,  whieh  is  a  town 


276 


Fishing  in  America?.  Waters. 


nearly  midway  of  the  ishuuls,  on  the  soutli  side  of  the  river, 
is  said  to  bt  the  most  convenient  point  to  select  for  trolling ; 
for,  in  addition  to  the  best  '];ronnds  being  near  there,  its  cen- 
tral location  enables  angievs  to  niake  a  trip  up  or  down  the 
river  to  the  extremity  of  iLe  inlands  and  to  return  the  same 
day.     The  hotels  along  the  Thousand  Islands  are  generally 
comfortable,  and  the  landlords  reliable.     Make  known  your 
Avants  to  the  proprietor,  and  he  will  engage  a  man  and  boat 
for  you.     All  the  trolling-boats  are  ,  in     k  r  in  model  for 
speed  and  comfort.    The  boatman  furnishes  rods,  lines,  baits, 
and  rows  his  own  boat.     I  prefer  to  use  my  own  tackle,  even 
to  spoons  and  feathered  squids.     Each  row-boat  is  furnished 
with  two  cushioned  arm-chairs,  in  which  yourself  and  lady 
are  seated  near  the  stern  and  facing  it.     The  bottom  of  the 
boat  is  carpeted,  and  crimson  is  the  favorite  color.     Tiie  fish- 
ing-rods are  so  set,  by  appliances  in  the  boat  and  on  the  taft- 
rail,  that  the  troll  follows  outside  of  the  track,  as  the  rods  are 
held  at  right  angles  with  the  boat,  like  outriggers.     The  line 
is  from  fifteen  to  twenty  yards  long,  and  the  troller  lets  it 
run  from  the  reel  as  the  gaifer  rows  along.    The  trollers  soon 
become  so  enraptured  with  the  varied  beauties  of  the  shifting 
.scenes  that  they  lose  the  consciousness  of  being  on  a  fishing 
excursion  until  the  oarsman  calls  loudly,  "  Bite  on  the  lady !" 
which  sufficiently  disenchants  them  for  the  lady  to  reel  in  a 
pickerel  or  black  bass,  or  perchance  a  niaskinonge ;  when 
"  Bite  on  the  gentleman !"  is  heard,  and  he  reels  in  a  fish  to 
the  gaff  of  landing-net. 

Parties  leave  the  hotels  in  couples,  agreeing  upon  a  rendez- 
vous for  lunching  on  some  island.  The  boatmen  take  bread, 
ice,  vegetables,  and  condiments,  and  couples  sally  forth  upon 
the  waters,  and  adjourn  at  the  appoint  "d  time  in  the  midst 
of  groves  of  more  than  Oriental  beauty.  The  fish  are  cooked 
by  an  artist  on  an  extemporized  fireplace,  while  other  gaffers 
are  spreading  the  cloth  on  the  greensward,  where  the  repast 
is  perved,  and  all  goes  on  enchantingly.  After  luncheon  they 
repair  to  their  boats,  when  they  continue  ttfolling,  or  cast  an- 


Leader  op  the  Clan. 


277 


chor  on  the  shaay  side  of  a  floral  islet,  in  a  narrow,  rapid  elian- 
nel,  where  they  east  the  flies  for  blaek  bass.     Thus  passes  the 
day,  on  waters  where  the  air  is  laden  with  perfume  from  wild 
roses  and  honeysuckles,  and  where  the  music  of  birds  chimes 
in  with  the  running  water,  as  the  trollers  alternate  between 
light  and  shade,  now  gliding  along  in  gorgeous  sunlight,  an<l 
anon  tracing  narrow  channels,  shaded  by  tall  forest  trees 
where  wild  ducks  and  other  winged  game  are  rendered  al- 
most tame  by  the  contiguity  of  civilizadon  and  the  frequent 
sight  of  gay  and  jolly  fishing-parties. 

SECTION  SECOND. 

THE    MASKINOXGE. 
Where'er  Ontario's  waters  chafe 

The  rocky  bhiffs  that  crown  its  shore, 
And  wlicre  Canadian  banks  are  green, 

And  crystal  tributaries  pour, 
The  savage  maskinonge'  doth  roam 

The  tyrant  of  the  watei  v  plain. 
No  rebel  to  dispute  his  claim, 
No  rival  in  his  great  domain. 

fa  Jn'v  '"%l'Tt  ■"  "'"i""''  ""="•""■"'  '1'"™™  of  '■>«  I'ik" 

r„,ri  ™'- V"'"'--"  •'«™<l"y,  and  to  m„.t  of  the  lakes 
ami  „ve, .  m  the  vast  northwctem  wilderness  extending  to 
U>e  ingKl  zone  The  Ojilnva  name  of  this  flsh  is  "  maskauo,.- 
J«,  mea„,„g"long-s„o„t."  When  Canada  was  a  French  col- 
ony,  the  ha>Mans"  named  it  m„,gu.  Icwm,  signifying  Ion,. 
v.sage  I  submit  that  the  Ojibwa  wa,^  entitled  by  priority  t: 
ho  ,>ght  of  naming  the  flsh  ;  but  as  the  Dominion  of  Canada 
has  named  ,t  again,  and  in  all  legal  enactments  there  in  ref- 
orem-  to  n  the  name  of  the  flsh  is  written  "  maskinon..,-.  "  I 
w.lln,,ly  aoo„pt  the  modiflcatiou  instead  of  either  the  Ind  an 
or  the  i^rencii  name. 

.lod^r  rti'  T^l^"^^^«"  «f  "'--""^^  a  fish  which  has  puz- 
zled most  ichthyologists  and  anglers,  «o  that  they  have  been 
uncertam  and  dubiotis  on  the  point.     The  name  is  Maski- 

NONGE. 


278 


Fishing  in  Amkbican  Wateks. 


Having  hoard  many  anglers  state  tliat  they  could  not  dis- 
tinguish the  maskinonge  from  the  jtiekerel,  I  invite  them  to 
look  at  the  diversities.  The  mandibles  of  the  former  are 
longer,  the  tail  more  forked  and  larger,  the  dark  gray  back 
and  light  sides  arc  dotted  in  black,  the  outline  of  the  fish  is 
more  delicate  and  elegant,  presenting  the  appearance  of 
greater  refinement  and  higher  breeding  than  the  pickerel  or 
pike.  The  surface  difierences  are  palpable,  but  they  are  not 
so  marked  as  are  the  epicurean  qualities.  The  meat  of  the 
maskinonge  is  compact,  white,  tender,  and  peculiarly  delicate 
and  rich  in  flavor,  without  i)artaking  of  any  taint  of  extrane- 
ous substance  such  as  decayed  wood  and  bark,  which  so  com- 
monly aftect  the  flavor  of  pickerel,  and  even  trout.  This 
proves  that  the  maskinonge  inhabits  springs;  and  when 
taken  in  lakes  where  surface-water  is  supposed  to  preponder- 
ate, is  always  found  at  points  where  the  fountains  gush  from 
the  bottom. 


' 


The  Maskinonge. 


Rice  Lake,  twelve  miles  north  of  Coburg,  in  Canada,  con- 
tains favorite  feeding-grounds  for  the  maskinonge.  Its  nu- 
merous springs,  its  beds  of  wild  rice  miles  in  length,  formhig 
a  ground  shade,  its  row  of  islands  rising  high  above  the  level 
of  the  lake,  covered  with  dense  forests  of  lofty  trees  in  whoso 
shade  the  fish  disport  near  the  fountains,  make  this  their  fa- 
vorite resort.  These  attractions,  and  the  rivers  which  feed 
the  lake  and  teem  with  shiners  and  other  tiny  baits,  render 
Rice  Lake  remarkable  for  containing  maskinonge  which  are 
equal  in  game  qualities  to  any  known  in  America ;  and  I  be- 
lieve the  fish  has  never  been  discovered  in  any  Avater  of  the 
eastern  hemisphere. 

This  fish  often  attains  to  nearly  seven  feet  in  length,  and 


' 


A  Study  and  a  Luxury.  279 

to  the  weight  of  from  sixty  to  s..enty  ponruls  in  the  upper 
lakes,  as  well  as  in  Ontario  and  the  River  St. Lawrence.    But 
when  so  large  they  are  less  active  than  when  from  ten  to 
thirty  pounds  in  weight,  as  in  liice  Lake,  and  the  River  Oitan- 
abee,  which  enters  Rice  Lake  opposite  and  about  four  miles 
from  Gore  s  Landing.     The  greatest  number  that  I  ever  took 
in  one  day  on  this  lake  and  river  was  sixteen,  and  as  I  took 
them  egitimately-with  rod  and  reel-the  gentlemen  at  Ilar- 
nss  Hotel  decided  that  I  had  won  the  spurs,  and  invited  me 
o  their  club.     I  there  learned  that  it  was  the  greatest  num- 
ber  ever  taken  from  the  lake  in  one  day  with  a  single  rod  and 
reel ;  and  as  the  club  was  chiefly  composed  of  retired  officers 
ot  the  English  army  and  navy,  wit],  a  sprinkling  of  civilians 
who  own  charming  boxes  on  the  margin  of  this  beautiful 
lake  of  thirty  miles  in  length,  I  regarded  the  compliment  as 
a  very  flattering  one. 

Maskinoii-.^e  are  taken  on  a  troll  like  either  of  those  repre- 
sented on  another  page,  under  the  title  of  "Spoon  Victuals  for 
Long-snouts." 

Instructions.~Troll  with  a  striped  bass  rod  about  ten  feet 
ong,  and  on  a  reel  which  will  carry  six  hundred  feet  of  fine 
bass  line  place  three  hundred  feet  of  the  largest  linen  reel 
line.     To  the  end  of  this  line  attach  your  feathered  squid 
In  trolling,  let  your  squid  be  about  sixty  feet  behind  the  boat 
Ihe  oarsman  will  regulate  the  speed.     Then  the  first  saluta- 
tion that  you  will  probably  receive  will  be  a  shock.m<r  jerk 
and  you  will  see  at  the  end  of  your  line,  and  about  sfx  feet 
above  the  water,  a  maskinonge  suspended  like  Mohammed's 
coffin,  only  shaking  the  squid  so  that  it  jingles.    In  that  case 
don  t  get  excited,  for  it  is  the  last  time  probably  that  day 
that  you  will  see  him.    Row  on ;  do  not  turn  to  go  over  the 
ground  to  retrieve  your  loss,  but  be  ready  for  a  new  adven- 
ture.   After  he  hooks  himself,  do  not  play  him  with  too  stiff 
a  line,  nor  yet  slack  enough  to  let  him  get  a  bight  in  it     Tire 
hmi  out,  and  bring  him  gently  to  gaff,  and  see  that  your  gaff 


be  the  best  of  the  striped  bass  pattern.     Keep 


away  from 


m 


280 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


him  after  your  oarsman  lands  him  in  the  botton;.  of  the  boat, 
where  he  always  keeps  a  mallet  or  billet  of  hickory  wood  to 
pound  the  fish  on  the  head  and  prevent  him  from  leaping 
out  of  the  boat,  for  his  saltatory  powers  surpass  those  of  the 
salmon.  It  is  said  that  a  trout  Avill  rise  a  fall  six  feet  high, 
a  salmon  one  of  eleven  feet  perpendicular,  and  a  maskinonge 
one  of  nearly  thirty  feet. 

Far  where  Lake  Erie's  billows  glance, 
An  ocean-like  immense  expanse, 
The  sharp-teeth'd  maskinongc  abides, 
The  shark  of  the  fresh-water  tides. 
Now  in  the  dr.rk  abyss  of  waves 
He  glides ;  now  where  the  shallow  laves 
The  gratisy  shore,  and  crisp  waves  break 
O'er  the  white  sands  that  gird  the  lake. 

SECTION  THIRD. 

THE     BLACK     BASS. 

Amid  the  Thousand  Isles  that  gem 

St.  Lawrence  like  a  diadem, 

Where  winds  are  soft,  and  waves  are  calm. 

And  pine-woods  steep  the  air  with  balm, 

riscator  floats  the  calm  abyss 

'Mid  scenes  of  most  transcendent  bliss  ; 

Wafted  across  that  teeming  flood, 

His  heart  o'erfiows  witli  gratitude. 

Many  anglers  think  tiie  black  bass  next  to  the  salmon  for 
game.  It  is  unquestionably  high  game.  Being  numerous  in 
many  waters  of  the  Northern  States,  it  has  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  commercial  fish,  and,  through  ignorance,  many 
confound  it  with  the  Oswego  bass,  which  is  quite  an  inferior 
fish  as  to  game  and  for  the  table.  Some  persons  have  ex- 
ported the  black  bass  both  to  England  and  France  with  the 
view  of  propagation ;  but  whether  they  were  the  real  black 
bass  is  questionable,  as  they  are  diflicult  to  export  after  they 
grow  to  be  larger  than  fingerlings. 

The  black  bass  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  perch  family, 
or  rather  order  of  fishes,  because  its  mouth,  gills,  fins,  and 
scales  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Percidm ;  but,  in  order  to 


Moke  Gamy  than  Beautiful.  281 

distinguish  it  from  otlier  fishes  of  similar  color  and  apparent 
organization,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  real  black 
bass  has  a  red  speck  in  each  eye  like  a  dot  of  carmine.  It  is 
also  more  delicate  in  outline,  and  has  a  smaller  head  than  the 
Oswego  and  the  Southern  bass.  The  black  bass  spawns  in 
tlie  spring,  and,  like  most  fishes  Avhich  spawn  in  that  season 
IS  not  supplied  with  a  sac  of  nutriment  attached  to  the  um- 
bilical cord. 

The  activity  and  muscular  power  of  the  black  bass  are  suf- 
ficient to  enable  it  to  liold  its  own  and  increase  its  numbers 
in  waters  inhabited  by  the  most  ferocious  fresh^ivater  fishe. 
such  as  the  maskinonge,  glass-eyed  pike,  and  the  pickerel  or 
pike  ofthe  great  lakes. 


The  Black  ^\ss.—Centrarchus/asciatus.~J)G  Kay. 


With  a  view  to  giving  the  angler  a  list  of  the  principal 
fishas  m  the  fresh  waters  ofthe  State  of  New  York,  I  append 
the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  an  old,  intelli- 
gent, and  successful  angler,  who  has  resided  in  the  central 
part  of  the  state,  and  fished  for  the  most  gamy  part  of  the  list 
of  which  he  writes  for  more  than  thirty  years.     His  theory 
of  the  black  bass  hibernating  in  clefts  of  rocks  is  corrobora- 
ted by  other  authorities,  and  is  doubtless  true.     But  to  the 
extract.* 

and  Ca^i^rrTr  ?/*'"  ^^'I^-^^^^'  0"^''^"o  Lake,  Seneca  River,  Oneida 
in  thP.V  T    ^'^°?'/''^'-°  ••^'•°  f"""*!  »'>«  (>«wego  and  l,Iack  bass,  veiy  siSl 
>n  then-  shape  and  in  some  of  tiieir  habits,  so  much  so  thaf  tbo-  „..!    a 
mistaken  for  one  and  the  same  «nerips      Thn  n  r  ^""*.*'''^^  "'^  o^^en 

are  good  biters,  and  are  game  to  the  last.  ' 


^82  Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


THE    OSWEGO   BASS. 

This  fish  is  similar  to  the  black  bass  in  all  outward  marks, 
except  that  it  has  a  larger  head,  lacks  the  double  curve  at 

"The  black  bass  seldom  attain  to  more  than  four  and  a  half  pounds^~I 
have  taken  hundreds,  and  have  never  seen  one  weighing  more  They  are 
distinguished  from  the  Oswego  bass  by  a  faculty  of  changing  color  in  and  out 
0  water -sometimes  yellow,  or  yellow  with  dark  bands  across,  and  often 
black  as  mk.  All  these  changes  I  have  seen  in  the  same  individual  after 
landing  him  ;  and  they  invariably  emit  a  disagreeable  musky  odor.  I  have 
never  known  them  to  be  taken  in  winter,  and  I  think  they  seek  a  particular 
location  and  remain  torpid  during  winter.  My  attention  was  directed  to  this 
fact  about  thirty  years  since.  At  that  time  I  was  in  the  habit  of  spearing 
fish  in  a  miU-dam,  on  the  outlet  of  the  Seneca  Lake,  at  Waterloo,  in  Seneca 
County.  From  April  to  November  I  found  numbers  of  bass ;  from  Decem- 
ber to  March  I  found  all  other  varieties,  but  no  bass. 

"  In  the  winter  of  1837  the  w;  ar  was  shut  off  at  the  lake  for  the  purpose 
of  deepening  the  channel  to  improve  the  navigation.  This  was  considered  a 
favorable  time  to  quarry  the  limestone  in  the  bed  of  the  river ;  and  upon  re- 
moving the  loose  rock  in  tlie  above-named  mill-dam,  where  the  ledges  crop- 
ped out,  there  were  found  hundreds  of  bass  imbedded  in  their  slime,  and  pos- 
itively packed  together  in  the  crevices  and  fissures  of  the  rocks.  My  subse- 
quent experience  has  done  mucli  to  convince  me  that  my  theory  is  correct 
The  black  bass  appear  in  the  waters  of  the  Cayuga  Lake  in  April. '  They  make 
their  beds  and  spawn  between  May  10th  and  June  20th,  and  disappear  in  No- 
vember. The  trolling  commences  in  tlie  early  part  of  May,  and  continues 
until  July  1st,  after  which  time  we  find  great  annoyance  from  the  weeds. 

"In  the  Seneca  and  Canandaigua  Lakes  the  ba'ss  make  their  appearance 
at  a  later  dnte— usually  about  the  middle  of  May— and  spawn  between  June 
1 0th  and  July  25 th.     This  is  the  best  time  to  take  them.     They  locate  in 
gi-eat  numbers  upon  shoals  and  bars  where  there  are  large  boulders.     The 
Seneca  Lake,  unlike  other  lakes  in  this  region,  is  very  deep.     It  has  a  clean 
beach  and  bottom  ;  no  weeds  or  grass  except  in  the  little  coves  and  bays.    In 
these  places  we  find  small  patches  of  grass  filled  with  all  sorts  of  small  fry, 
and  it  is  about  these  grass  patches  that  we  have  the  finest  sport  in  August 
and  the  fore  part  of  September.     By  the  1  st  of  October  the  bass  have  disap- 
peared from  their  usual  haunts,  and  the  next  we  hear  from  them  is  at  the 
'Bass  Grounds,'  near  Big  Stream,  where  they  congregate  in  immense  num- 
bers about  the  middle  of  October.     The  manner  of  fishing  is  with  the  hand- 
line  and  rod  and  line,  using  crawfish  and  minnows  for  bait.     Hundreds  are 
taken  in  a  day  in  this  place.     This  sport  continues  until  the  middle  of  No- 
vember, when  it  ceases.     The  appearance  of  the  bass  in  this  locality  I  con- 
sider as  another  fact  in  corroboration  of  my  theory.     The  shore  is  a  bold 
rocky  cliff,  and  the  water  very  deep.  ' 


'  The  bhick  bnss  of  the  great  chain  of  lakes  range  from  three  to  nine  pounds.— G.  C.  8. 


Habits  of  the  Black  Bass. 


283 

the  end  of  the  lateral  line  at  the  joining  of  the  tail,  and  has 
no  red  m  the  eye.  Its  flaky  meat  is  soft  and  watery,  and  its 
common  weight  is  from  five  to  ten  pounds 

Like  the  black  bass,  this  fish  is  taken  by  casting  the  arti- 
ficial fly,  or  by  trolling  with  the  feathered  spoon,  ^ith  a  min- 

"Th^fi  l!    T  "J""^  '^  ^'°^^'  '"^  ^^^™^"S  spinning  tackle. 
This  fish  inhabits  most  of  the  lakes  in  the  interior  of  the 

State^ofNew^York^the  waters  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and 

.ie^  to  "if  lZ°  ™°,"'',  °T°°  ^°'"^'  ''"»  '-"'-y  f'"-'  I""  <"«"">'«  vnrie- 
S  r„d "priS^^ke    "  •  '"^^  ""'"• '""'"'  '""^'■'  '■"''  -*-     The  w„,e,. 
"  The  Seiieea  nncl  Canamlaig,,,,  Lake,  are  supplied  with  late  tront  ,vl,i,. 
r.h,  h„„„,.«,„,„„,  pike.p,„h,  black  and  rj\„.,,  y^J^;:X':l^ 

a;ii^;^Mt^jL;:i:xrdti,  ^\r  at  '™">  '*r 

Iiiindi-fxl  foof  ,!-,„.       1  .     .     -^  uoep,  lake  trout  at  sixty  to  one 

'  inclietl  feet  deep-flhva.ys  at  the  bottom,  rowing  moderatelv      Wp  „««  ? 


284 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Thk  Oswego  Bass. 

those  of  many  of  the  Western  States  teem  Avith  it,  n^  do  the 
chain  of  lakes  on  our  Nortliern  border,  and  the  rivers  and 
lakes  in  the  w^estern  part  of  Canada,  and  most  of  the  waters 
of  ti.  a  Northwestern  wilderness.  In  some  places  it  is  known 
us  the  yellow  bass,  and  at  others  as  the  white  bass. 

BLACK  BASS  OP  THE  SOUTH. 

To  the  casual  observer  this  fish  very  nearly  resembles  th. 
black  bass  of  the  North.  Its  habits  are  indeed  similar,  and 
so  are  its  fins  and  color;  but  it  has  a  larger  head,  and  in  all 
ponits  excepting  contour  it  is  like  the  Osv  3go  bass.     The 


Black  Bass  of  the  South. 

rivers  in  Florida  are  alive  with  this  fish,  and  it  is  not  diflicult 
to  take  several  hundred  pounds  of  them  in  one  day.  It  is 
taken  there  in  winter,  wTien  the  sport  may  be  varied  by  shoot- 
ing deer,  ducks,  wild  geese,  an  occasional  brown  bear,  and  an 
alligator,  and  all  from  the  same  trolling-punt. 


f 

i 


-By    SOME   CALLED    StKAWBEEKY. 


285 


he 
1(1 
rs 
n\ 


THE   SPOTTED   BASS   OR   SPECKLED   HEN.     * 

This  is  a  common  fish  in  the  fresh  waters  of  the  Western 
Mates;  it  is  also  taken  in  the  waters  of  the  western  part  of 
the  Dommion  of  Canada,  where  it  is  known  as  the  speckled 
hen     This  IS  one  of  the  r.umerous  small  pan-fishes  of  the 
Western  waters  which  naturalist,  have  not  yet  classified      It 
ranges  m  weight  from  a  quarter  of  a  pound  to  two  pounds,  is 
blackish-green  on  the  back,  greenish-yellow  on  the  sides,  with 
u  white  belly,  and  dotted  in  black  similar  to  some  of  the  dace 
0^'s  of  \V  estem  streams.     It  is  an  excellent  breakfast-fish, 
ei  her  rolled  in  flour  and  fried  in  butter,  or  in  sparkling  hot 
fat  of  salt  pork.     Sweet  or  olive  oil  is  the  best  juice  for  frv- 
•ng  fish  in,  but  seldom  used  in  America  for  the  purpose  ex- 
cept by  Israelites. 


The  Spotted  Bass  oe  Speckled  Hen. 
EOCK   BASS   OF  THE    LAKES. 

Tins  is  rather  better  game  than  the  "  s))eckled  hen  »  bites 
freely  at  a  feaLl.-^red  squid  troll,  or  to  any  shiny  revolvino- 
spoon  bait ;  it  also  bites  at  the  apple-worm,  white  grub  grassy- 
hopper,  or  shiner-.    This  may  also  be  said  of  the  speckled  hen. 
Ihe  Buel  feathered  spoon  of  smallest  size  and  brightest  feath- 
ers is  a  CI?)':    iiing  hire  for  both  the  spotted  bass  and  the 
rock  bass      T  is  fish  inhabits  all  the  lakes  in  the  centre  of 
the  state,  or  '  is  regarded  as  an  excellent  pan-fish.    It  is  green 
on  the  back,  orange  at  the  sides,  and  cream-color  on  the  abdo- 
men; the  mottled  spots  are  black  and  green.     This  is  emi- 


286 


I 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Rock  Bass  of  the  Lakes. 


nently  a  lake  fish,  where  it  is  found  in  greatest  numbers  over 
the  shallows  near  the  shores,  and  contiguous  to  the  entrance 
of  sprnig  streams.  It  ranges  in  weight  from  a  quarter  to  u 
pound. 

SECTION  FOURTH. 

THE   SUNFISn. 

This  little  fish  inhabits  nearly  all  the  lakes,  rivers,  and 
ponds  m  the  United  States.     Its  habits  arc  very  domestic 
seldom  lep,ving  its  spawning-ground  out  of  its  sight,  but  seeks' 
some  rock  or  large  stone  where  it  plays  about ;  and  the  re- 
mamders  of  shoals  of  a  single  pair  maybe  seen  disportincr  to- 
gether, gay  and  lively,  while  watching  the  bottom  for  mch 
ground-bait  as   angle-worms,  and  the   surface  for  flies  and 
grasshoppers.     This  tiny  gormandizer  is  a  great  annoyance 
to  fishers  with  the  fly  or  worm  when  it  becomes  numerous  in 
a  trout-pond,  for  it  will  take  both  the  worm  and  the  fly  •  and 
besides,  it  will  steal  the  trout-eggs  from  the  spawning-beds' 
but  It  affords  ladies  and  children  much  sport,  and  is  withal 
an  excellent  pan-fish  ;  and  as  it  affords  good  sport  for  school- 
boys, it  should  be  tolerated.     It  never  attains  to  more  than 
half  a  pound  weight ;  but  the  buffalo,  a  Western  fish,  which 
IS  snnilar  to  the  spotted  bass,  is  sometimes  mistaken  for  this 
fish,  and  in  some  waters  ranges  from  half  a  pound  to  nearly 
five  pounds.     The  sunfish  is  dark  greenisli- brown  on  the 
back,  greenish-yellow  on  the  sides,  lower  end  of  gill  tipped 


Greedy  Small-fky. 


287 


The  Sunfish. 


With  ml,  and  tlie  belly  orange  and  gold.     It  is  to  be  fished 
lor  with  perch  tackle  and  very  small  hooks. 

THE    PERCir.  • 

Thi,  foh  is  tl,e  heart  of  the  families  of  the  Pccidm  or  Per- 
0  «fe  of  Cuver.    The  p,-e„perem„m  is  dentionlated,  the  oper- 
culum IS  produeed  behind  into  a  flattened  spine  the  infL 
o.-b>.al,  are  obscurely  denticulated,  and  the  to,!gue'i   smoo  , 
This  IS  the  common  fresh-water  perch-tho  Pe^ca  prone.     ^ 

.';i:e~  itt:™"  """"*■'"'  •■'  ^^^^^ =---- 

y  necessa.y.     It  ,s  a  very  voracious  fish,  will  bite  to  the  ar- 

±t  ''elT  1  "r"-'!:'^  '^  '"  weakness,  while  it  seems 
equally  well  pleased  with  any  bait  which  the  angler  may 
adopt  o,  change  to     Its  weight  is  usually  about  hatf  a  po     d 

cales  as  high  as  seven  pounds,  b„t  rarely  except  in  the  large 


The  Pkkch.— Pcrta. 


a  i 


288 


Fishing  in  Amehican  Watkrb. 


Til  Europe  it  is  found  dt'Hirublo  to  cultivate  this  fish,  ;is  it 
is  j((>ry  prolific  and  an  excellent  pan-fish ;  but  in  Anun'ica, 
wluM-e  it  is  no  trick  to  take  Iialfa  bushel  a  day  or.  the  ponds 
in  t)ie  iininediate  vicinity  of  the  city  of  New  York,  it  is  not 
deenu'd  worth  while  to  encourasj^e  its  propagation.  Iiuk'ed, 
so  great  a  scourge  is  it  regarded  on  Long  Island,  thut  pouch- 
cr.s'  having  a  grudge  against  an  owner  of  a  trout-pond  go  in 
the  night-time  and  stock  it  with  perch. 

Of  the  fishes  belonging  to  this  order  there  are  over  twenty 
families,  including  the  numerous  kinds  of  baas,  and  nearly  all 
of  those  fishes  of  fresli  waters  with  the  first  dorsal  spiked  or 
spinous  rayed.  Of  these  families  there  is  scarcely  a  fresli- 
water  river  ov  lake  on  earth  which  does  not  contain  a  repre- 
sentative. 

The  ovarium  of  a  percli  is  one  fourth  the  weight  of  the 
fish ;  and  a  i)ound  pcnih  has  been  known  to  contain  992,000 


eggs. 


THK    (.LASS-EYED    Oil  WALL-EYHn   IMKE. 

This  is  one  of  the  fishes  of  the  Middle  and  Northern  States. 
vVt  the  Southwest  it  is  called  wall-eyed,  while  at  the  North  it 
is  known  r.s  the  glass-eyed  pike,  and  by  other  local  and  un- 
imjiortant  names,  such  as  the  pike-perch,  sand-pike,  etc.  Hut 
its  eyes  being  the  most  distinctive  mark,  it  is  more  generally 
known  by  the  names  given  at  the  heading  than  by  hny  other. 
It  sometimes  attains  to  a  very  great  weight.  Doctor  JJuel 
took  one  in  the  Kentucky  Kiver  which  weighed  nearly  fifty 
pounds. 

They  arc  found  in  all  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  lliver,  in 
the  range  of  jjreat  lakes,  and  most  of  the  rivers  and  lakes  as 
far  east  as  New  York,  south  as  far  as  Tennessee,  and  west  as 
far  as  Wisconsin.  They  also  inhabit  many  of  the  Avaters  in 
the  western  part  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  In  Cayuga, 
Seneca,  and  other  lakes  of  the  western  part  of  New  York  they 
are  often  taken,  sometimes  weighing  as  high  as  forty  pounds. 
In  Oneida  Lake  they  are  numerous ;  in  fact,  the  glass-eyed 


Vaiuous  in  Sua™  anu  Vuwm.  289 

•miMKircial  fislicH  of  tlio 


|"ko  is  ono  of  t|„,  most  important  o 
lukcH. 


Tub  Gr-Ms-BVED  on  Wall-biku  Vmi 


Iho  Klax,-„y„d  ,,ikc  of  tl,o  rivers  in  New  York  is  very  sat- 

.a,t,  an,  ,»  g„„„rally  fo,„„l  at  tl,o  .i,ot  of  a  rapid,  watchi„K 

or  any  ame  or  disconcerted  fish  winel,  appear'  „.  t  to  k    "w 

.ow  to  take  care  of  itself:     Ti,e  best  way  to  an.de  for  t.  7 

tLerefore,  ,s  to  anchor  yo„r  l,oat  at  the  side  or  ahovc  a  rapid  • 

«e  sh,ner  l,a,t,  and  cast  to  the  foot  of  the  rapid,  or  let  yo„; 

"■!"«':  "V      .y^"  "'«"''"■  »"'i(-J-l«»s  tuekle  and  flfh 
w,t    a  float     The  p,ke  of  the  Moha„k  River  are  supposed  to 

, ,  ''•''>^.''.  l'»»s™»>"g  a  pecniiar  flavor  n.ost  tempting  as  a 
break  ast  d.sh.    Those  fish  which  run  from  thro     .,'Z 

at  the  Lutlo  tails  to  the  weight  of  nearly  twenty  pounds 
and  proved  to  he  a  superior  fish  for  stuflin/ and  baWn;  ' 
The  scales  of  the  glass-eyed  pike  are  hard,  close,  and  difli- 
oult  to  detach.  The  mandibles  are  wider  and  the  aws 
-  ronger  than  those  of  the  pike  or  pickerel,  while  its  teeth  aTe 
hor^r  and  closer  set.  It  is  dark  gray,  with  greenish  tir-  o^ 
fte  back  gray  s.des  with  yellowish  tinge,  and  white  abdo- 

renders  It  common  and  unappreciated,  but  it  is  really  one  of 
the  best  table-flshes  of  the  rivers  /  ^ne  ol 

anrWesttrv-'"-  ''"^'y  f  SUs.-eyo:^  pike,  known  in  Ohio 
and  Western  Virginia  as  the  salmon.     It  resembles  the  pike 


290 


Fishing  m  American  Waters. 


of  the  Mohawk  by  being  bluish-black  on  the  bu.k,  bluish-c^ray 
«des  and  white  belly.     It  is  iound  in  the  Kunuwha  and^Mi 
ami  luvcrs,  as  also  in  many  other  streams  of  Ohio. 

THE    WHITEPLSH. 

This  sucker-mouthed,  succulent  delicacy  is  to  be  found  in 
most  of  the  small  lakes  in  the  middle  ofthe  Sta.e  of  Xew 
York,  where  It  forages  near  the  springs  which  ^^ush  from  the 

of  a  most  delicate  flavor.     The  color  of  the  back  is  gru     and 
the  rest  of  the  fish  a  clear  white  of  most  lustrous  sh^^n;  The 
great  lakes  from  Ontario  to  Superior  produce  millions  annu- 
ally,  and  it  is  supposed  the  fish  near  the  nort,   shores  are  su- 
perior to  those  on  the  south  side  ofthe  lakes,  because  a  Great- 
er number  of  cold  spring  streams  debouch  in  the  lakes  on  the 
nor   I  side.     The  whitefish  is  leather-mouthed,  and  sometimes 
akes  the  spoon  or  spinning  bait.     In  weight  it  rur-s  from 
three  to  mne  pounds,  and  there  is  less  waste  in  it  than  in  any 

s'^n'if  /  1v ', "".  ^'''  "^^'■'""^-  ^^  ^  ^«Py  sketched  fV  Z 
still  life  by  Walter  Bracket,  Esq.,  a  Boston  artist  of  merit 


The  WHiTEkisu.—Correffoms  alosa 


or 


alb 


'US. 


It  IS  emmently  an  economical  fish,  requiring  no  butter  to 
try  It;  but,  of  course,  those  persons  who  unite  a  little  knowl- 
edge of  hygiene  with  gastronomy  never  fry  any  but  the 


^-"Ji^'lltJ^iWflBIMiaieaMHiM 


ANOiHER   BREAKFAST   Bi.UCAOY.  291 

smallest  kiruls  of  pan-fishes.     This  is  a  broiler  as  truly  as  i.  ;, 
shad  or  a  Spanish  mackerel. 

Though  an  alxh  ■ninal,  it  does  not  belong  to  the  ymm  Sal- 
mo  any  more  than  ioes  the  smelt,  which  some  ichthyo'o^ri8t^ 
classify  with  that  cfenm,  though  the  smelt  spawns  in  sprin-, 
and  the  whit(  in  summer  or  early  in  autumn. 

Whitefish  are  taken  with  nets  and  placed  in  fish  r  ounds  in 
the  fall,  confined  by  an  ater-fencing  with  nets  or  stone,  whence 
they  taken  with  large  scap-nets  and  sent  to  market.  The 
new  process  of  dry -freezing  is  being  resorted  to  at  the  West, 
i^u  as  to  enable  the  netters  t<  take  them  in  the  season  when 
they  are  best  for  the  table,  and  preserve  them  in  a  certain 
stage  of  refrigeration  until  it  is  thought  desirable  to  market 
them.  This  is  til  ^  Arable  method,  because,  when  confined 
m  pounds,  closely  packed,  many  of  tbem  get  frozen,  beini; 
thus  rendered  unmarketable  hv  rea.Mii  of  their  slow  death^ 
In  the  winter  of  1808  ihere  were  500  lost  from  one  pound 
near  Detroit  by  freezing.  T'  le  po  and  system  should  be  abol- 
ished by  law. 

'  ■  The  fisher  stakes  his  net  and  weir 
The  persecuted  shoals  to  snare  ; 
The  seiner  runs  his  seines  around, 
Where'er  their  shining  scales  abound  ; 
Then,  dragging  to  the  neighboring  shore, 
The  white  sands  strew  with  ample  store ; 
Yet,  spite  of  foe,  and  net,  and  seine, 
Unnumb(      l  myriads  yet  remain. "—Isaac  M'Lellan. 

THE    LAKE    IIERRINCr, 

The  herring  belongs  to  the  Clnpeidce  family  of  fishes,  and 
is  the  fifth  and  last  division  of  the  ''Malacopterygiens  ahdomi- 
naux;'  being  the  supposed  link  between  the  GadidcB  and  the 
Salmonidm,  without  second  dorsal  or  adipose  fin.  The  lake 
herring  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  salt  waters,  fis^bsisting 
chiefly  on  animalcula3.  Its  back  is  dark  gray  with  a  greenish 
tinge,  white  sides  and  abdomen,  and  covered  with  laro-e  sil- 
very scales.  It  is  from  nine  to  twelve  inches  in  length,  and 
when  fresh  is  a  good  broiler;  but  the  world  knows  that' it  is 


i^v^  ":^^> 


^>, 


IMAGE  EVALUATIOeSj 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


k 


4o 


A 


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& 


1.0 


I.I 


2.0 


1.8 


111.25 


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—    6" 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  37^-4503 


^^ 


292 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


The  Lake  Hekking.— 67«/>ea  harengus. 


cured  every  possible  way  with  salt  and  smoke,  from  the  deli- 
cate bloater  to  the  shriveled,  smoky-brown  substance  of  a 
smoked  herring-box.     Nevertheless,  it  has  been  truly  stated 
that  "the  ancients  placed  among  their  gods  manv  a  worse 
creature  than  a  red  herring."    It  is  a  great  fish  of  commerce 
and  one  of  the  indispensables  to  the  poor  in  many  parts  of  the 
world.     Thus  far,  although  the  lakes  of  the  United  Stateo 
swarm  with  a  fr<  sh-water  herring  which  is  not  inferior  to  the 
best  British,  yet  it  has  hitherto  claimed  little  attention  as  a 
fish  for  exportation;  but  the  demand  for  it  is  becoming  an- 
nually greater,  and  the  fishermen  of  the  Western  lakes  are 
now  beginning  to  study  the  best  net  and  management  for 
Its  capture.     The  drift-nets  will  probably  be  found  the  best, 
and  the  lake  herrings-which  are  more  delicate  than  those  of 
salt  water  — will  soon  become  an  important  article  of  com- 
merce. 


THE   CISCO   OB  CISCOQUETTE. 

The  Cisco  is  a  small  white  fish  similar  to  the  lake  herring 
but  differing  from  it  by  the  addition  of  a  second  filmy  dorsal 
and  m  its  meat  being  more  delicate,  and,  when  scaled,  trans- 
lucent as  a  smelt.  It  usually  measures  from  six  to  nine 
mches  m  length,  sometimes  twelve  inches,  but  rarely  longer 
The  scales  are  white  as  polished  silver  except  on  the  back 
which  18  greenish-gray  like  the  caplin.  ' 

The  Cisco  is  known  in  some  places,  eminently  by  fishermen 
and  fish-dealers  along  the  great  lakes,  as  the  ciscoquette,  and 
IS  just  beginning  to  be  regarded  as  a  commercial  fish  great 
quantities  being  taken  with  the  whitefish  by  the  fishermen  6f 


New  Spoet  on  Western  Lakes.  293 

Huron  and  Superior.  A  letter  from  one  of  the  principal  Lake 
Erie  fishermen  contains  the  statement  that  they  entertain  high 
hopes  of  profitable  enterprises  in  this  modern  luxury.  The 
Cisco  is  found  in  all  the  lakes  belonging  to  the  great  chain 
bounding  the  United  States  on  the  north,  and  in  some  west- 
ern lakes  of  the  interior;  but,  while  the  lake  herring— its  fre- 
quent companion— is  numerous  in  Seneca  and  Cayuga  Lakes, 
I  have  not  seen  a  cisco  there;  but  the  large  shiner  of  Canan- 
daigua  Lake  may  be  the  cisco.  Both  the  cisco  and  herring 
are  favorite  baits  for  lake  trout,  and,  as  food  for  game  fishes, 
the  waters  should  be  kept  well  stocked  with  them. 


The  Cisco  or  Ciscoqcette, 

From  a  recent  letter  to  t.  Spirit  of  the  Times  from  Camp 
Steriing,  on  Geneva  Lake,  Wis,,  it  appears  that  "ciscoing"is 
the  principal  June  sport  for  man,  woman,  and  child  in  all  the 
area  formed  by  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  round  the  lake.  The 
Cisco  may  be  taken  with  bait  or  fly,  though  the  latter  is  the 
most  natural  food,  as  its  small,  square  mouth  and  soft  teeth 
indicate  that  animalculm  or  flies  are  its  natural  aliment.  At 
Geneva  Lake  there  is  a  fly  called  the  "  cisco-fly,"  which  ap- 
pears to  be  its  natural  food ;  it  is  nearly  an  inch  long,  of  gray- 
ish-brown body  and  light  gray  wings,  with  tail  and  antennae— 
probably  a  Phrijganea.  The  eel-fly  is  also  said  to  be  a  favor- 
ite lure ;  but  the  cisco  and  cisco-fly  both  appear  in  great  num- 
bers at  the  same  time. 

The  cisco  is  said  to  be  excellent  game  of  its  size,  and  will 
rise  as  vigorously  as  a  brook  trout,  often  meeting  the  fly  be- 
fore it  touches  the  water.  They  should  be  fished  for  with  a 
single-handed  fly-rod,  like  the  trout ;  though  a  sixteen  feet 
perch-rod  is  recommended,  as  perch  and  small  black  bass  oc- 


294 


FisiiiFn  IN  AMf:KicAN  Waters. 


cupy  the  same  feeding-grounds,  and  often  rise  to  the  fly  or 
take  the  bait.  The  cisco  of  the  great  lakes  resembles  an  ale- 
wife,  and  sometimes  attains  the  weight  of  three  pounds. 

THE   SHINER. 

This  tiny  white  fish,  with  scales  of  metallic  lustre,  is  from 
two  to  four  inches  long,  and  the  best  bait-fish  which  belongs 
to  the  fresh  waters  of  America,  where  it  is  found  in  most  of 
the  brooks,  rivers,  and  lakes  of  the  north  temperate  zone.  It 
is  a  greedy  biter,  and  with  a  bit  of  angle-worm  covering  the 
point  of  a  minnow-hook  it  is  taken  as  fast  as  it  can  be  drawn 
out  with  a  supple  willow  wand.  While  fishing  in  rivers  for 
black  bass,  I  have  moored  one  end  of  my  scull-boat  at  the 
shore,  and  sat  my  waiter  at  catching  shiners  at  the  shore-end 
of  the  boat,  while  I  took  black  bass  with  the  shiner-bait  at 
the  other  end. 


Thk  Shinek. 


As  a  pan-fish,  it  is  the  sweetest,  most  juicy,  and  delicate  of 
any  fish  except  the  golden  mullet ;  and  when  fried  to  a  crisp 
in  olive  oil  or  fresh  butter,  it  forms  a  mouthful  more  delicious 
than  any  other  pan-fish.  Many  epicures  in  country  places 
appreciate  the  delicious  shiner ;  but  as  it  is  too  insignificant 
in  size  to  form  an  object  of  commerce,  inhabitants  of  cities 
are  innocent  of  any  knowledge  of  this  succulent  luxury.  But 
it  is  as  a  bait-fish  that  I  would  recommend  the  shiner,  and  a 
bait-can  is  necessary  for  keeping  it  alive. 

SECTION  FIFTH. 

BAIT-CAN   AND   BAITS. 

A  simple  tin  can  or  pail,  large  enough  to  contain  from  two 


Keeping  Alive  to  Take  Life. 


to  three  gallons  of  water,  with  the  lid 
perforated  to  let  air  into  the  bait,  is 
generally  sufficient;  but  some  anglers 
prefer  a  double  pail,  the  inper  one  per- 
forated all  over  in  holes  the  size  of 
buckshot.  In  this  case  the  pails  are  of 
equal  size  at  the  top  and  bottom,  or 
cylindrical,  and  the  inner  pail  may  be 
taken  out  and  the  water  changed  be- 
tbre  returning  it,  without  the  danger  of  losing  bait.  Another 
plan  is  to  have  a  can  shaped  like  the  foregoing  cut,  and,  in- 
stead of  frequently  changing  the  Avater,  insert  a  siphon,  and 
<lraw  the  water  up  and  let  it  fall  back  into  the  can,  which 
aerates  the  water  and  revives  the  bait.  In  carrying  young 
trout  to  stock  streams,  the  cans  may  be  of  either  wood  or  tin, 
but  they  should  be  constructed  with  a  pump  to  aerate  the 
water.  Clean  swamp-moss,  asiu  a  small  piece  of  ice  in  moss, 
should  always  be  j)laced  in  the  water  for  conveying  live  fish 
cpv^ral  miles  in  warm  weather. 


SPINNING   BAITS. 

Spinning  baits  for  trolling  on  all  fresh  waters  have  proved 
the  most  successful  for  nearly  all  the  game  fishes  which  in- 
habit them.  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that,  if  spinning  minnow 
squids  could  be  made  strong  enough  for  trolling  with  along 
our  coasts  and  in  our  estuaries,  all  the  surface-feeding  fish 
of  those  waters  might  be  taken  in  greater  numbers  than  they 
are  now  by  casting  menhaden  bait,  and  by  all  other  fish- 
ing appliances  except  the  set-nets  and  pounds,  which — as 
they  take  all  sizes  of  fishes — should  be  regulated  by  law,  es- 
pecially as  to  where  they  may  be  used,  and  under  what  con- 
ditions, etc.  Of  course,  the  rig  for  coast-trolling  would  re- 
quire to  be  made  very  strong ;  for  even  the  plain  bluefish 
squid  fastened  to  a  heavy  hawser-laid  line  is  often  parted  by 
the  jaws  of  bluefish,  Spanish  mackerel,  bonetta,  or  cero.  Even 
a  fifty  or  seventy-five  pound  atriped  bass,  or  a  twenty  or  thir- 


296 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


I!   I 


ty  pound  bluefish,  would  make  the  line  hum  some.     But  how 
would  it  be  with  a  hundred  and  twenty  pound  bonetta  ?    I 
have  taken  large  striped  bass  by  trolling  for  them  on  the  Se- 
connet  River  with  a  bone  squid  covered  with  white  linen,  out 
of  \«hich  I  formed  the  tail.     The  squid  played  by  means  of  a 
brass  swivel.    All  swivels  should  be  of  brass  or  copper,  even 
if  silver-plated  afterward.    Steel  swivels  rust.     The  leath orn 
satchel  for  carrying  hooks,  screw-driver,  pincers,  porpoise-oil, 
and  all  the  appliances  necessary  for  use  in  mending  rod,  reel, 
or  any  part  of  tackle,  should  be  framed  with  brass.     Water- 
proof canvas  satchels  are  better  than  the  leathern,  and  in 
them  hooks  and  other  anglers'  implements  will  take  no  in- 
jury.    Water-proof  canvas  is  also  preferable  to  leather  for 
gaiters,  and  for  boat-fishing  they  are  preferable  for  shoes.     I 
prefer  Russia  leather  boots  for  wear  when  trolling  off  the 
coast,  as  the  spinous  dorsal  and  pectoral  fins  of  some  fishes 
are  sharp  and  strong  enough  to  pierce  any  kind  of  cloth. 

Foreigners  have  frequently  swindled  the  anglers  of  this 
country  by  attaching  hooks  of  inferior  quality  to  spinning 
baits;  but  the  domestic  competition  in  the  fishing-tackle 
business  has  become  so  strong  that  first-rate  tackle  of  all 
kinds  can  be  had  at  home ;  and  the  Buel  feathered  trolling- 
spoon,  and  those  of  M'Harg,  are  the  best  in  the  world  for 
taking  the  principal  fishes  of  our  lakes  and  rivers.  The  sam- 
ples which  I  submit  for  the  use  of  anglers  on  American  wa- 
ters are  supposed  to  be  the  best  in  use.  Those  just  xef  :ed 
to  I  know  are.  If  a  plain  spoon  is  used,  it  should  be  of  sil- 
ver outside  and  copper  on  the  concave  side. 

HACKETt's  spinning-tackle,  cork,  IRELAND. 

This  piece  of  spinning-tackle  was  noticed  in  the  London 
Field,  and  I  think  it  a  very  good  rig  for  trolling  with  a  live 
minnow  for  maskinonge,  glass-eyed  pike,  black  and  Oswego 
bass,  pickerel,  and  the  numerous  lake  and  river  fishes  which 
delight  in  spoon  victuals  or  captivating  artificial  lures. 

In  baiting,  put  the  large  hook  in  at  the  mouth,  and  run  the 


Disguises  all  the  Go. 


297 


point  of  hook  along  the  side,  under  the  skin,  bringino-  it  out 
opposite  the  dorsal  fin ;  then  draw  up  the  fish  on  the  shank  of 
the  large  hook,  and  insert  the  small  hook  through  the  upper 
and  lower  lips,  thus  closing  the  mouth;  let  the  bait  settle 
back  so  as  to  draw  on  the  small  hook,  and  you  are  ready  for 
action.  The  hooks,  screw,  and  swivel  should  be  silver-plated 
It  the  snells  are  of  gimp,  they  should  be  made  very  fine ;  but 
twisted  gut  snells,  finely  made,  are  better.  The  minnow 
should  represent  a  silver-side  or  a  shiner. 

This  would  be  a  killing  bait  to  offer  along  the  margin  of  a 
pickerel-pond  while  spinning  it  among  the  lily-pads  "with  a 
long  rod.  Just  cast  it  as  far  as  convenient,  without  sinker; 
let  it  sink  a  trifle,  and  draw  it  along,  when  its  spinning  will 
soon  be  stopped  if  there  is  a  pickerel,  perch,  or  glass-eyed 
pike,  or  even  a  black  bass  near.  Properly  made  and  handled, 
it  must  prove  a  very  attractive  lure  and  successful  bait. 

Haskell's  trolling-bait. — No.  1. 
The  invention  is  patented,  but  may  be  had  at  most  fishing- 
tackle  stores.  It  is  made  of  three  sizes.  The  largest  is  5| 
inches  long ;  medium  size,  4^  inches  ;  small,  3  inches.  This 
troll  must  prove  a  successful  lure  if  properly  made.  A  whirl- 
ing joint  below  the  dorsal  fin  must  require  great  care  to  ren- 
der it  quite  free  and  yet  sufliciently  strong.  I  have  heard 
good  reports  of  the  bait,  and  should  think  it  would  prove 
successful  on  the  lakes  of  the  Adirondacks  and  among  the 
Thousand  Islands. 


298 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Thi«  ba  t  IS  intpndea  to  represent  a  live  flsh  with  a  screw  tall.  Its  main  feature  Is  an 
InKonloUM  roinbina  ion  of  the  xpinninp  minc\i>\c  with  that  of  the  well-known ''troll- 
mj,'  ininiiow.  It  is  constructed  of  thin  sheet  metal,  beautifully  anil  durably  si  - 
mnit'nfri..,7'?<''t  ''","•  h"'  1"'".'""/,'"^  ''^  ^''^  e-'Kniyins, 'represents  ^a  Jerfect  flsl  {  the 
n."  ?J  1^^  i."  V  m'**  ^I'i^y  is  Stationary,  and  keens  in  a  vertical  position  in  the  wa- 
of  the  tafl,  A  and  ll!°        '    '  '■^^°'^^''  **  ^^"^  J"^"*  0  by  means  of  the  turued  ends 

It  is  well  to  have  but  two  hooks  on  metal  trolls,  but  they 
should  be  as  largo  as  allowable  for  the  size  of  lure. 

Needle-pointed,  finely  tempered  steel  hooks,  of  the  Sproat 
bend,  are  as  good  as  any. 

Especial  attention  should  always  be  paid  to  the  quality  of 
hooks  for  all  kinds  of  angling,  but  more  especially  for  troll- 
ing. 

The  brightest  artificial  disguises  are  generally  the  best  for 
trolling  baits. 

This  troll,  if  made  strong  enough,  would  be  a  very  success- 
ful one  for  bluetish  and  Spanish  mackerel. 

THE    PROPELLING   MINNOW. — No.  2. 

This  minnow  is  made  from  gutta-percha,  shaded  and  colored 
to  represent  a  live  minnow.  The  pectoral  fins  are  represent- 
ed by  screw  propellers,  which,  with  the  curve  of  the  tail,  ren- 
der the  lure  very  attractive,  as  its  motion  in  the  water  re- 
sembles that  of  a  living  fish.  This  may  be  made  of  any  size, 
to  suit  the  kind  of  fishing  for  which  it  is  required.  Andrew 
Clerk  &  Co.  have  them  of  all  sizes,  from  those  for  use  with  a 
fly-rod  to  such  as  are  large  enough  to  troll  with  for  the  fishes 
of  our  great  lakes. 

This  bait  has  never  been  tried  in  our  waters.  It  is  similar 
to  the  troll  for  salmon  in  the  iakes  of  Scotland,  and,  I  think, 
will  prove  to  be  excellent  for  sea  trout.     It  received  a  pre- 


Lures  for  Game  Fishes. 


299 


inium  at  the  World's  Fair  in  Paris,  and  the  boanty  of  its 
make  surpasses  any  spinning  bait  that  I  have  seen.  A  small 
brass  swivel  connects  the  gimp  snell  with  the  line. 

BUEl's  patent   FEATIIEKEl)   TKOLL. — No.  3. 

Among  the  many  eftbrts  at  making  captivating  metal  trolls, 
the  one  with  a  piece  of  silver,  in  the  oval  or  fish-form,  revolv- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  shank  of  the  hook,  proved,  from  the 
year  it  was  invented,  the  most  successful ;  and,  when  the  ad- 
dition of  feathers  was  introdi;ced,  I  trolled  with  it  at  the 
Thousand  Islands,  Rice  Lake,  ai.d  on  other  waters,  always 
with  great  satisfaction. 

The  Iiooks  should  be  heavy  and  well  tempered.  M'Harg's 
troll  was  very  popular  at  the  Thousand  Islands,  chiefly  be- 
cause it  was  made  with  a  pair  of  hooks ;  but  he  tells  me  that 
recently  trollers  prefer  a  cluster  of  three  hooks.  Mr.  Clerk 
says  the  same.  It  is  a  great  mistake,  because  lai;ge  fish  crush 
a  cluster  of  hooks  and  disgorge  them. 

The  feathers  which  I  found  the  most  taking  were  the  red 
ibis.  The  best  troll  that  I  ever  used  for  maskinonge  is  a  red 
ibis  feather  for  the  top  of  the  troll,  and  a  small  tuft  of  white 
hair  from  a  deer's  tail  for  the  under  side.  The  white  hair 
from  a  deer's  tail  is  brilliant  in  the  water,  and  it  disguises  the 
point  of  the  hook,  while  the  attractive  red  feathers  extend 
back  of  the  bend  of  the  hook  from  the  top  of  the  shank.  I 
prefer,  also,  plain  brass  trolls,  trolls  of  silver  for  one  side  and 
of  copper  for  the  other,  and  trolls  of  pure  silver.  The  troll 
for  maskinonge  should  be  oval  in  shape,  and  from  two  and  a 
half  to  three  inches  long,  playing  round  from  a  shoulder  on 
the  shank  of  the  hook.  The  hooks  should  be  rext  to  the  lar 
gest  size  represented  on  the  plate  of  implements  for  taking 
striped  bass'. 


SPINNING-TACKLE   FOR  LIVE   BAITS. 

The  three  desiderata  in  spinning  rigs  for  trolling  with  and 
playing  live  bait  are,  1st,  the  strength  and  applicability  of 


' 


300 


Fishing  in  American  Wat 


ER8. 


Spinning-tackle  fok  Livr  Baits. 

tached  to  the  gang;  and,  3d,  the  delicacy  necessary  to  form 
t  an  at  raction  instead  of  a  warning.     No.  1  represents  an 

half  knot  fastening  at  the  bend  of  the  hook  to  the  correct 
length,  to  hold  the  fish  by  the  lips  and  leave  the  gills  free 
^   Always  use  shiners  for  bait  when  they  are  to  be  had     In 
impahng  or  affixing  the  minnow  or  shiner  to  the  gang  of 
hooks,  first  msert  the  bottom  hook  nearly  an  inch  afcve  the 
^il,  and  run  it  down  and  out  at  the  tail,  as  represented  by 
JNo.  2,  so  as  to  curve  the  tail;  and,  that  the  tail  may  have 
precisely  the  correct  curve,  fix  the  next  hook,  at  the  top  of 
the  shank  of  the  large  hook,  in  the  skin  at  the  side,  so  as  to 
hold  the  tail  to  the  curve  required ;  then  insert  under  the 
skin  the  two  middle  hooks,  which  fasten  more  firmly  the  bait 
and  confine  it  to  the  requisite  curve.     Then  slide  down  the' 
ip-hook,  or  upper  one,  and  insert  it  through  both  the  lips  of 
the  fish,  shutting  its  mouth,  but  leaving  the  gills  free  for  res- 
piration.    Take  a  half  hitch  with  the  snell  round  the  shank 


The  Biter  Bitten. 


301 


of  the  hook  at  the  curve,  wind  it  a  few  times  round  the 
shank,  and  run  it  through  tlie  hole  at  the  top  of  the  shank  of 
the  hook.  This  completes  baiting;  and  with  a  good  swivel 
at  the  top  of  the  snell  or  snood,  a  few  inches  (say  six)  above 
the  upper  hook,  the  bait  will  revolve  in  water,  and  remain  an 
attractive  lure  for  hours  while  trolling,  unless  a  bite  inter- 
venes, and  then  the  biter  is  quite  sure  to  be  hooked ;  for  the 
triangular  gang,  playing  to  a  ring  on  the  outside  of  the  fish, 
is  generally  sure  to  intercept  the  fish  (which  aims  at  the  head 
of  the  bait)  befofe  it  is  taken  by  the  tail-hook. 

Francis  Francis,  in  philosophizing  upon  the  superiority  of 
the  spinning  of  artificial  baits  over  natural  ones,  concludes 
that  it  is  "  because  they  are  stiff  throughout ;"  and  that  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why  they  do  not  get  out  of  proper  shape 
as  do  the  living  ones  when  not  properly  impaled  and  perma- 
nently fixed  on  a  gang  of  hooks  so  arranged  as  that  nothing 
but  a  bite  will  disturb  or  derange  the  bait.  I  have  not  the 
slightest  hesitation  in  pronouncing  this  spinning  gang  the 
best  arrangement  of  hooks  that  has  thus  far  been  presented 
to  the  American  angler. 

Figures  3  and  4  illustrate  what  is  termed  the  "  dead  snap." 
Of  courEe,all  gangs  for  natural  baits  should  either  be  fasten- 
ed to  single,  double,  or  twisted  gut  snells,  or  to  the  finest  pos- 
sible silver  gimp  wire.  They  are  generally  wound  to  the  lat- 
ter with  fine  wire,  but  fresh-water  trolls  or  spinning  gangs 
should  be  fastened  on  silk-worm  gut.  Regulate  the  number 
of  plies  of  gut  to  the  size  and  power  offish  to  be  trolled  for. 
The  present  gang,  No.  3,  may  be  fastened  to  single  gut,  if  the 
gut  be  round  and  strong. 

In  baiting,  insert  the  tail  hook  first,  then  the  middle  hook 
just  under  the  skin,  and  finally  slide  dovn  the  lip -hook 
and  insert  it  through  both  lips.  Sometimes  a  baiting-needle 
is  used  to  insert  the  snell  from  the  body  out  at  the  mouth 
through  the  upper  gill-cover.  The  upper  hook  should  always 
slide  on  the  snell  by  a  hole  or  small  loop  of  gut  at  the  top  of 
the  shank. 


302 


FisiiiNo  IN  American  Wa 


TERS. 


All  MiQs  of  tho  f/e7ius  Salmo  are  more  readily  captured  by 
trolling  with  natural  baits,  such  as  the  shiner  or  the  smelt 
which  is  the  salmon's  natural  food,  to  a  troll  formed  of 
burnished  silver,  with  the  hook  disguised  by  gay  feathers 
while  all  families  of  the  pike  and  perch  prefer  the  feathered 
squid.  For  trolling,  the  black  bass  prefers  live  bait;  but  in 
July  he  will  bite  at  almost  any  gay  fly,  if  artistically  pre- 
sented.  ''  ^ 

The  troll  is  the  most  killing  method  of  angling  short  of  the  ' 
net  and  the  pound,  and  yet  it  is  not  neady  so  popular  in 
America  as  in  Europe.    An  American  gentleman  would  hard- 
ly consent  to  troll  for  salmon,  and  yet  in  both  Scotland  and 
Ireland  they  cross-fish  for  them  by  two  row-boats  carrying, 
each  an  angler  with  trolling-rods,  and  the  lines  of  each  anrrle" 
are  connected  at  the  ends,  where  a  float  marks  the  division 
To  each  line  numerous  flies  arc  attached,  and  the  boats  are 
rowed  along  at  a  convenient  distance,  and  when  a  salmon 
bites,  the  angler  on  which  side  of  tlie  float  the  fish  is  fastened 
reels  and  plays  the  salmon,  while  the  other  angler  gives  line 
If  the  oarsmen,  who  gaff"  the  fish,  get  nervous,  a  snarl  of  lines 
-ind  hooks,  and  a  loss  of  the  fish,  are  results  quite  naturally 
expected  and  frequently  realized. 

SPOON-VICTUALS   FOR  LONG-SNOUTS. 

The  larger  sizes  of  feathered  spoons  are  preferred  in  troll- 
ing for  the  maskinong(3  and  the  great  Northern  pickerel  as 
also  for  the  glass-eyed  pike.     The  difierence  in  the  two  styles 
of  troll  is  illustrated  by  A  and  B.     Troll  A  revolves  on  a 
shoulder,  to  which  two  hooks  are  first  wound  with  brass-wire 
then  soldered.     On  the  shank,  as  represented,  feathers  arc' 
mounted.     Decisive  colors  are  to  be  preferred,  such  as  red 
and  white.     Sometimes  two  swivels,  one  at  the  shank  of  the 
hook  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  gimp  snell,  six  inches 
above,  are  used  to  prevent  the  rapidity  of  the  action  of  the 
troll  from  kinking  the  line. 
Troll  B  is  so  arranged  that  difierent  fly-hooks  may  be 


Caitivating  Trolls. 


303 


looped  on  by  their  wires  at  the  joint,  as  iUustrated.  It  is 
supposed  by  many  that  this  rig  is  the  best,  because  it  permits 
free  play  to  the  hooks.  In  all  other  respects  it  is  similar  to  A. 
Feathered  trolls,  like  A  and  B,  made  strong,  with  stout 
hooks,  and  heavy,  strong  gimp  or  wire  snells,  would  be  most 
killing  among  such  coast  fishes  as  the  Spanish  mackerel,  blue- 
fish,  and  squeteague. 


TROLLIN^G  WEATHER   AND  BAITS. 

Of  weather  for  trolling  there  are  several  opinions.  Some 
think  that  the  calm  after  a  storm  is  the  best  time ;  others, 
that  a  windy  day  is  be^t.  It  is  good  weather  for  all  kinds  of 
angling  and  trolling  when  the  mercury  is  well  up  in  the  ba- 
rometer and  there  is  a  gentle  breeze ;  also  when  the  sun  looks 
with  a  modest  silver  face,  it  is  much  better  than  when  the 
god  of  day  is  red  and  fiery,  or  glares  with  a  golden  or  jaun- 
diced stare. 


■  I    li 


H 


304 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Trolling  is  a  luxurious  style  of  fishing.  It  is  not  very  ar- 
tistic until  the  fish  fastens.  Then  the  play  of  the  fish  calls 
for  the  deftly-expert  handling  by  an  angler  whose  experience 
has  taught  him  the  strength  and  tricks  to  effect  escape  pecu- 
liar to  each  family  of  fishes. 

Of  bait-fishes,  the  river  chub  probably  ranks  next  to  the 
shiner.     It  bites  eagerly  to  a  minnow-hook  baited  with  liver. 
Then  there  are  the  daces,  both  the  horned  and  smooth  heads^ 
which  are  good  for  bait,  and  bite  readily  to  a  red  fly,  ano-le- 
worm,  or  liver.     The  stone-sucker  is  often  used  for  blit,  but 
It  uas  no  other  merit  than  being  firm  and  lasting ;  it  is  not  a 
taking  lure.     I  am  in  the  habit,  when  angling  in  the  interior 
of  the  country,  and  in  want  of  minnow  bait,  to  cut  a  two-inch 
thick  rod,  with  a  fork  at  the  end,  trimming  the  fork,  and  cut- 
tmg  It  down  to  the  length  of  two  feet,  and  then  fasteninc.  a 
piece  of  bobbinet  lace  or  musquito-nettina  into  the  fork  full 
enouo     to  form  a  bag,  and  with  that  ext^emporized  scap-net 
I  have  always  been  able  to  scap  up  enough  bait  from  the 
brooks  or  backsets  from  the  fishing  waters.     But  it  is  more 
desirable  to  carry  a  minnow-net  on  making  these  country  ex- 
cursions.   The  gaff-hoc:,  landing-net,  and  minnow-net  are  es- 
sential implements  toward  an  outfit  for  an  expedition  for 
general  fishing. 

FISH-HOOKS. 

In  the  two  rows  of  hooks  represented  opposite,  the  angle  r 
may  see  the  two  important  bench,  without  reference  to  the 
slight  bend  sidewise,  and  called  the  Ki-hy  bend,  which  may  be 
given  to  either  one.  Some  anglers  prefer  a  Kirby  bend,  while 
others  contend  that  it  is  not  so  good  for  mounting  with  flies 
for  either  salmon  or  trout ;  but  Mr.  Hyde,  the  best  amateur 
expert  in  America,  generally  mounts  his  flies  on  Kirby  round- 
bends.  Offish-hooks  the  shape  is  important,but  scarcely  more 
so  than  are  the  qualities  of  metal,  temper,  and  finish.  Oh 
how  many  aching  regrets  and  hopeless  feelings  of  momentary 
desperation  have  been  caused  '■  -       ■         - 


^'y 


in  a  fish-hook. 


or  m 


''yflP^"'  ■.iSMESi.lS'^^'*^*^'"'*"'"' 


Impoetance  of  Fish-hooks. 


305 


'  11 


I 


14 


15 


I 


its  deficiency  of  quality  !     As  the  quality  of  the  hook  is  the 
foundation  of  the  general  results  for  the  angler,  it  may  not  be 
a  matter  of  surprise  that  I  endeavor  to  impress  the  embryo 
philosopher  with  the  importance  of  fish-hooks.     I  remember 
that,  when  a  boy  of  seven  summers,  an  extemporized  bridge 
for  carting  hay  was  cast  over  a  trout-brook  in  front  of  our 
dwelling,  and  that  I  baited  a  pin  with  a  worm  and  lay  down 
on  the  bridge,  which  was  but  a  few  inches  above  the  water, 
and  let  the  baited  pin  run  under  the  bridge.     In  a  moment 
I  experienced  a  tremendous  jork,  and  pulled  in  my  line,  when 
the  trout  struggled,  and  finally  straightened  my  pin -hook. 
Oh,  what  would  I  not  have  promised  at  that  moment  to  give 
for  a  real  fish-hook!    The  store  was  near  by,  where  Uvo 
hooks  might  be  had  for  a  cent,  but  whore  was  the  cent?    I 
have  never  forgotten  the  feelings  of  that  moment,  and  never 
will  while  life  lasts.     I  would  therefore  plead  for  paternal 
generosity  toward  youths  who  early  contract  a  penchant  for 
angling. 

V 


t  ■ 


306 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


The  rows  of  samples  include  the  useful  sizes  to  mount  with 
flies  for  salmon  and  large  brook  trout,  or  to  use  for  bait  in 
the  river  fishings  for  commoner  fish.  The  upper  row  repre- 
sent Adlingtou  &  Hutchinson's  needle-pointed  round-bends. 
This  is  also  an  excellent  hook  for  small  striped  bass  and  black 
bass,  and  generally  for  fishing  when  a  float  is  used. 

The  lower  row  of  Siiroat  bend  hooks  are  samples  of  the 
manufacture  of  Hutchinson  &  Sons,  intended  for  the  same 
uses  as  the  foregoing.  This  bend  is  better  than  the  round 
one  for  fish  with  a  small  mouth,  like  the  kingfish.  The  Sproat 
bend  appears  to  be  the  ne  plus  ultra  in  the  form  and  quality 
of  a  fish-hook.  The  Virginia  hook  is  quite  similar  in  its  short- 
ness of  nib  and  low  bend,  while  the  Kinsey  or  Pennsylvania 
hook  is  lower  still  in  the  nib  and  wider  in  the  bend,  and,  being 
shorter  from  the  point  of  the  hook  to  the  bend  or  centre  of 
draught,  is  preferred  by  many ;  but  my  experience  in  losing 
large  fish  by  their  springing  the  hook  out  induces  me  to  pre- 
fer a  hook  of  larger  wire,  finer  finish,  and  tempered  better. 
These  hooks  enlarge  gradually  to  No.  20,  and  in  quality  are 
truly  superior. 

SALMON  FLIES. 

The  flies  on  the  upper  row  are  tied  on  the  Adlington  hook 
with  Sproat  hend,  while  those  of  the  lower  row  are  mounted 
on  the  round  hend^  of  numbers  from  15  to  18. 

Fig.  1.  Wing  of  diagonally  barred  feathers  from  under  pide  of  snipe's  wing,  in  drab 
and  black ;  dark  blue  and  black  pig's-wool  hackle ;  gold  tail.  Fig. '.'.  Mottled  black 
and  white  wing  from  a  turkey's  tail;  body  of  olive-colored  mohair  iind  black  hackle, 
with  brown  shoulders,  and  orange  peacock  tail.  Fig.  3.  Black  and  drab  diagonally 
barred  wing,  blue  and  cliirot  hackle  body,  with  gold  shoulder;  tail  of  gold  and 
green.  Fig. 4.  Brown  wings  and  legs,  drab  body,  all  of  gutta-percha;  glass  eyes. 
Fig.  6.  Ribb»d  drab  wing  and  antennie;  legs  and  body  of  gutta-percha;  reddish- 
brown  mohair  shoulders,  and  black  bcr.d  eyes.  Fig. 6.  White  miller;  white  ribbed 
wings,  drab  body  and  legs,  red  glass  eyes.  Fig.  7.  Brown  gutta-percha  wings,  pur- 
ple body  wound  with  gold  tinsel,  reddish-brown  mohair  shoulders.  Fig.  8.  Black 
hackle  body  wound  with  gold ;  barred  duck-wing  tail ;  argo  pheasant  wing.  Fig. 
9.  Purple  body  with  gold  tail ;  blue  and  purple  hackle ;  tail  of  the  golden  pheasant 
top-knot;  browu  mallard  wings.  Fig.  10.  Brown  and  white  pheasant  w:ng;  gold 
body  tind  tail ;  brown  hackle  shoulders,  and  black  hackle  head.  Fig.  11.  Golden 
body  and  tail;  black  hackle  shoulders,  with  pheasant  and  burnt-brown  wings. 

Asia  has  contributed  more  material  for  artificial  flies  in  her 

linmerous  families  of  pheasants  than  has  any  other  quarter  of 

the  globe.     Neither  the  South  American  fox,  the  barred  wing 


308 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


of  the  wood-duck,  nor  the  brown  mallard  feather  are  equal  in 
attraction  and  delicacy  to  the  top-knot  of  the  golden  pheas- 
ant, or  the  feathers  of  the  argo  pheasant.  The  two  lower 
rows  of  flies  are  copies  of  those  used  with  success  last  year 
in  Canada  by  Dr.  Clerk,  of  Andrew  Clerk  &  Co. 

FLY  DRESSING. 
TEOUT-PLIES. 

Fig.  1.  Preparatory  to  snelling  your  hook,  which  means  tying 
the  hook  to  a  ^ilk-worm  gut  snell,  wind  the  head  of  the 
shank  with  several  turns  of  waxed  silk.  Wax  for  fly-tying 
is  the  same  as  shoemaker's,  only  more  clear  and  lighter  col- 
ored. Then  wind  three  or  four  times  from  near  the  bend 
of  the  hook  up  to  the  first  thread  at  the  head,  and  lay  the 
end  of  the  gut  on  th^  inside  of  the  shank  down  near  to  the 
bend,  and  wind  with  the  last  silk  thread  down  to  the  end, 
and  fasten  end  as  directed  on  the  page  of"  loops  and  ties," 
leaving  ends  as  1.  Fig.  3  is  the  same  as  1,  only  the  end  of 
silk  at  the  bend  end  of  the  tie  is  cut  short,  whereas  the 
two  threads  of  1  are  seen  on  2  as  follows  : 

Fig.  2.  Place  two  hairs  as  antennae,  and  the  hackle  that  you 
intend  for  the  head  in  the  direction  of  the  bend  of  hook, 
and  fasten  them  by  several  loops ;  then  fasten  the  end  of 
the  dufling  like  2  or  9,  and  wind  it  round  the  hook  to  form 
the  body,  winding  it  afterward  with  a  thread  of  gold  or 
silver  twist,  or  a  hackle  feather  like  4,  fastened  as  at  10, 
and  wind  round  the  body.  Then  add  the  wings  like  5, 
finishing  ofi"  like  8 ;  or  cut  from  a  feather  a  pair  of  wings 
like  6,  and  wind  them  from  the  head  so  they  will  maintain 
their  present  spread  shape.  Many  tyers  of  trout-flies  tie 
only  one  wing  on,  but  it  never  falls  so  naturally  as  do  the 
two-winged  flies ;  and,  to  imitate  Nature  perfectly,  some 
flies  require  to  be  tied  with  four  wings.  Imitate  the  natu- 
ral fly  as  shown  on  the  plate  of  "  natural  and  artificial 
flies." 


310 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Watees. 


MOUNTING   SALMON-HOOKS.  • 

Fig.  11.  Wind  oi  your  silk-gut  loop,  and  wind  the  end  of  your 
duffing  and  antenna,  fastening  it  all  at  the  head,  and  form- 
ing the  head  of  hackle  as  shown  by  14.    The  hackle  should 
be  doubled,  as  represented  by  1 ;  and,  after  the  duffing  is 
wound,  the  hackle  should  cover  it  like  13;  or  the  hackle 
may  be  heavy  like  12.     Some  persons  use  a  vice  to  hold 
the  hook,  as  14;  but  the  best  artists  at  fly-tying  do  not 
use  them.     After  the  duffing,  the  antenna?,  and  hackle  are 
fastened,  the  body  is  usually  wound  with  a  cord  of  silver  or 
gold,  as  1.3  and  15,  when  the  wings  are  fastened  like  12  and 
15,  the  head  and  tail  finished  like  the  latter,  and  the  ends 
of  threads  covered  and  closed  off  with  shellac.     This  also 
fastens  the  tinsel  at  the  head  of  the  antennae ;  but  with  all 
your  windings  of  hackle,  duffing  (the  body),  cord,  or  tinsel, 
carry  with  each  your  thread  of  silk,  well  waxed  with  trans- 
parent wax,  and  as  nearly  the  color  of  the  material  you  are 
winding  as  possible.     First  fasten  well  your  hook  to  the 
snell,  and  then  exercise  taste  and  practice  delicacy  of  ma- 
nipulation.    After  all,  an  hour's  instruction  from  an  artist 
is  worth  more  than  all  the  books  in  Christendom  on  in- 
struction for  making  artificial  flies.     I  prefer  to  purchase 
flies  from  those  who  follow  the  art  for  a  livelihood ;  but 
all  anglers  should  be  able  to  tie  a  fly  when  in  a  wilderness. 

THE   PONDERATING   SINKER. 

This  recent  invention  is  not  in  general  use,  or  known  to 
many  anglers.  I  have  tried  it.  It  may  do  for  river  and  fresh- 
water fishings  witlyi  float,  but  for  bottom  fishing  the  hollow 
tracing  sjaker  is  vastly  superior.  The  object  for  thus  in- 
creasing the  ponderosity  of  a  sinker  is  to  save  the  trouble  of 
carrying  numerous  sinkers  of  different  weights  when  going 
a-fishing,  and  to  increase  or  decrease  the  weight  without  tak- 
ing off  the  sinker. 

Explanation  of  the  Cut.—^o.  1  is  the  smallest  size  of  the 


A  NEW  Combination. 


811 


set  represented.  In  case  a  heavier  sinker  is  required,  No.  1 
is  unscrewed,  and  presents  the  appearance  of  Nos.  2  and  3. 
The  increased  weight  necessary  is  found  in  such  wheels  as  4 
and  5,  which  are  screwed  on  3,  and  then  2  is  again  fastened 
to  3  by  means  of  the  screAv.  The  sinkers  are  of  lead,  and  the 
screw  of  3  and  the  hole  of  2  are  brass,  in  drder  that  they  shall 
be  strong  and  not  corrode.  I  can  not  recommend  them  for 
the  heavy  fish  of  our  bays  and  estuaries,  as  they  are  liable  to 
unscrew  on  the  bottom  and  in  a  strong  tide ;  but  as  sinkers 
for  float-fishing,  no  invention,  I  think,  could  be  more  oppor- 
tune. They  are  to  be  found  at  the  principal  fishing-tackle 
stores. 


-mssL 


art    tijirtr. 


COMMEKCIAL   FISHERIES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LAKE  FISHERIES. 
Statistics  of  a  couple  of  Fisheries  on  the  Western  Lakes. 
As  I  have  before  stated  that  this  is  not  a  school-book,  I  will 
add  that  it  is  not  intended  for  the  counting-room.  The  few 
statistics  given  are  mere  glimpses  at  a  branch  of  industry 
which  is  a  sealed  book  to  the  public.  The  lake  fisheries  of 
the  United  States  are  confined  to  the  southern  half  of  the 
range  of  lakes  to  which  the  River  St.  liawrence  is  the  outlet. 
Later  in  the  history  of  this  country  important  fisheries  will 
be  established  on  Lake  Superior  and  at  intervals  fa:  beyond. 
At  present  the  few  fisheries  are  controlled  by  private  indi- 
viduals or  companies,  who  have  not  cared  for  the  publicity 
which  would  enable  reporters  to  make  a  correct  estimate  of 
this  industry. 

FOOD-FISHES   OF  LAKE   SUPERIOR. 

The  catch  of  fish  in  Lake  Superior  averages  about  ten 
thousand  barrels,  of  which  nine  thousand  a^e  whitefish,  and 
the  remainder  ciscoquettes  (ciscos) ;  but  this  only  applies  to 
the  fish  which  are  salted  for  an  Eastern  market ;  for  large 
quantities  are  shipped  while  fresh,  of  which  no  correct  ac- 
count is  kept.  In  Detroit  one  firm  alone  ships  annually  some 
three  hundred  tons  of  whitefish,  which,  however,  is  a  portion 
of  the  harvest  of  Lake  Huron. 

The  largest  whitefish  are  caught  below  Coj^per  Harbor,  in 
Lake  Superior,  and  weigh  about  8  pounds,  or  60  to  a  barrel ; 
those  caught  above  Copper  Harbor  average  1^  to  2  pounds, 
and  about  130  to  the  barrel. 

From  an  estimate  made  in  dollars  by  the  dealers  in  Lake  Supe- 
rior fishes,  the  catch  of  last  year,  when  salted,  amounted  to... $200, 000  00 
300  tons  fresh  whitefish,  shipned  by  one  house,  at  10  cts.  per  lb.     60.000  00 

1(200,000  00 


316  FisiiTNG  IN  American  "Waters. 

My  informant — who  is  one  of  the  most  intelligent  fisher- 
men of  the  lakes — adds  that  "  ciscoqiiettes"  (or  the  ciscos)  are 
supposed  to  be  the  finest  of  the  fresh-water  fishes  taken  in  the 
lakes.  "  They  are  something  like  a  Spanish  mackerel,  very 
fat,  and  becoming  valuable.  They  are  never  found  far  away 
from  copper-mines,  and  wherever  copper  is  found  most  abund- 
ant there  also  are  found  the  greatest  number  of  ciscoquettes. 
None  are  caught  at  the  lower  end  of  the  lake.  Fishing  is  yet 
in  its  infancy,  many  places  having  never  been  fished  before 
last  season,"  i.  e.  1867.  The  ciscoquette  is  only  like  the  Span- 
ish mackerel  in  its  flavor  being  free  from  any  foreign  taste ; 
but  it  is  more  juicy,  and,  if  possible,  more  delicate  in  flavor. 

FISHERY  OP   SANDUSKY,  OHIO. 

This  is  one  of  the  principal  fisheries  on  the  lakes,  and  the 
following  statement  shows  its  annual  catch,  and  the  means 
employed : 

WHITEFISH. 

Taken  in  pounds,  1,800,000  fish  ;  aggregate  weight,  4,500,000 

lbs.;  price,  10  cents  the  pound,  or $450,000  00 

2000  lbs.  daily,  or  over,  for  200  days,  taken  in  gill-nets 40,000  00 

490,000  00 

GLASS-EYED    OR   WALL-EYED    PIKE. 

4,400,000  pounds,  of  sizes  running  from  1  ^  to  14  lbs.  each.    The 
wholesale  price  averages  4  cents  the  pound 170,000  00 

BLACK   BASS. 

65,000.     Average,  3  lbs.     Price,  4^  cents  per  lb 8, 775  00 

SAND    PICKEREL   OR    SAND   PIKE. 

1,200,000.     Price,  1  cent  each 12,000  00 

LAKE    HERRINGS. 

13,500,000  fish,  weight  ^  lb.  each,  at  i  cent  per  lb 33,7.')0  00 

WHITE    BASS. 

1,200,000  fish,  at  a  cent  each 12,000  00 

MASKINONGE. 

500  fish,  10  lbs.  each,  at  6  cents  per  lb 300  00 

LAKE   TROUT. 

20,000  Ibo.  ci  ,>p,;  t  ,  ,;  Cape  "Vincent,  N.  Y. ,  and  40,000  lbs.  caught 

at  ColilTi.i'^rilisi  .  id  ri,;enwood,  at  10  cents  per  lb 6,900  00 

Amount  tot.^] $738,825  00 


Fisii  Pounds  and  Food-fishes. 


817 


NUMBER  AND  EXTENT  OF  NETS  EMPLOYED. 

The  fishery  has  1/5'^.  pounds  or  stationary  nets,  set  in  waters 
from  20  to  42  feet  deep.  The  length  of  each  net  is  100  rods, 
and  the  cost  $1000  each.  Amount  total,  $150,000.  The  cost 
offish-pounds  are  the  principal  expense,  though  the  company 
has  in  continued  use  1000  gill-nets,  twenty  seines,  and  numer- 
ous small  boats.  The  fishery  is  very  prosperous,  and  o-.vned 
by  men  of  energy  and  business  capacity. 

The  extensive  coast  and  estuary  fisheries  of  the  United 
States,  having  been  regularly  worked  ever  since  the  eastern 
border  was  first  settled  by  Europeans,  have  to  such  a  degree 
absorbed  the  capital  and  enterprise  of  fishei-men  and  fish-deal- 
ers that  the  lake  and  river  fisheries  were  not  thought  of  until 
within  the  past  twenty  years,  with  one  solitary  exception. 
Prior  to  that  date  the  establishment  of  fisheries  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  United  States  was  not  even  spoken  of.  Now  there 
are  many,  from  which  I  have  selected  the  foregoing  exemplars 
to  illustrate  results  of  this  growing  industry. 

Throughout  the  interior  of  our  vast  territory  there  is  an 
ornamental  tracery  of  running,  sweet,  and  healthful  waters, 
well  supplied  with  food-fishes.  The  working  of  these  wate'-s 
is  free  to  all  fishermen,  with  the  unimportant  exception  of  a 
few  depleted  rivers,  consequent  on  their  having  been  over- 
worked, but  which  are  now  being  restocked  and  protected  by 
legislative  enactments  during  the  process  of  recuperation. 
These  are  all  near  the  sea-board.  The  lakes  and  lengthy  riv- 
ers of  the  interior  are  still  free ;  and  where  no  regular  fish- 
eries are  established,  the  inhabitants  take  what  fresh  fish  they 
want,  either  with  the  angle,  net,  or  spear.  The  poaching  pro- 
clivity of  some  indolent  persons  has  induced  them  to  use  the 
spear  too  freely  in  our  small  lakes  during  winter.  In  the 
State  of  New  York  there  is  a  law  against  it,  with  fine  and 
penalty  attached,  but  it  is  still  done  in  defiance  of  law.  These 
poachers  erect  a  board  shanty  on  sleigh-runners,  furnished 


318 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


with  a  foot-stove,  and  a  hole  in  the  ridge  of  the  roof  for  the 
spear-handle.  This  shanty  they  draw  out  on  the  lake,  cut  a 
hole  through  the  ice  under  it,  lock  the  door,  and  commence 
spearing  all  the  fish  that  come  near  their  hole.  If  the  con- 
stable raps  at  the  door,  no  reply  is  meant  to  signify  that  the 
occupant  is  absent.  Thus  poachers  squat  in  villages  on  our 
lakes  in  wintei*  when  the  ice  is  thick,  and  sjjear  the  fish  at  a 
season  when  they  aie  unwholesome  for  food.  In  Canada,  for 
attracting  the  maskinonge  to  the  spear,  in  one  hand  the 
poacher  holds  a  line  attached  to  an  artificial  minnow,  which 
he  keeps  ploying  in  the  water,  while  with  the  other  hand  he 
holds  the  spear.  The  maskinonge  darts  to  within  a  foot  of 
the  minnow,  and,  Avhile  hesitating  there,  the  spear  takes  him. 
The  great  Western  rivers  swarm  with  fish,  and  all  the  way 
for  five  hundred  miles  below  the  sources  of  both  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Missouri  every  tributary  is  a  trout-stream.  In 
addition  to  the  pik*-  and  pickerel,  the  glass-eyed  pike,  doroe, 
or  sand  pickerel,  the  gray  pickerel,  known  as  the  Ohio  salmon, 
there  are  some  half  dozen  varieties  of  bass  in  nearly  every 
Western  river,  besides  perch,  sunfish,  chub,  bream,  eels,  buf- 
falo. There  are  also  several  varieties  of  catfish,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  are  the  black,  yellow,  and  channel  cats. 
The  Missouri  River  is  justly  celebrated  for  the  latter  fish, 
which  runs  from  five  to  fifteen  pounds  each,  and,  besides  yield- 
ing excellent  sport  for  the  rod,  is  a  choice  table  luxury,  equal- 
ing the  sahire  of  the  Danube,  which  is  also  a  species  of  cat- 
tish highly  prized  by  European  epicures. 


The  Hammer-headed  Shark. 


An  imi'oktajs't  Need  of  Man. 


319 


CHAPTER  II. 

COAST  FISHES  AND  FISHERIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  fisheries  of  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Chesapeake  Bay 
to  the  Gulf  of  St.  LaAvrence  are  so  extensive  as  to  cause  re- 
gret that  statistics  in  the  catches  of  many  important  fislies 
are  not  sufficiently  reliable  to  form  the  data  necessary  to  a 
correct  report  of  the  numbers  and  weights  annually  caught 
by  the  thousands  of  fishermen  -who  keep  no  account  of  their 
takes, but  sell  them  at  retail  or  wholesale,  and  live  on  the  pro- 
ceeds, without  keeping  an  account  of  their  expenses. 


THE   MACKEREL. 

Coasting  New  England's  rocky  shore, 
Sailing  where  Southern  sm-ges  ponr, 
The  daring  fisliers  spread  the  sail 
To  Southern  haze  and  North2rn  gale. 
Thousands  of  craft  the  ocean  si)eck, 
Thousands  of  seamen  juice  the  deck, 
Eager  to  follow  to  the  end, 
Where'er  tlie  mackerel  shoal  may  tend. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  food-fishes  of  the  seas, 
as  well  as  one  of  the  most  prolific.  Nature,  in  the  harmoni- 
ous arrangement  of  the  universe,  and  in  turning  all  things 
toward  man's  good,  has  made  the  duration  and  existence  of 
numerous  families  of  fishes  dependent  upon  their  searching 
out  brooding-places  and  depositing  their  eggs  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  man's  need.  By  the  process  of  procreation,  these 
fish  form,  to  a  certain  extent,  home  attractions,  and  dally 
about  the  shoals  near  shore,  where  they  are  fished  for  with 
the  hook,  and  the  more  sure  means  of  a  drift-net  twenty  feet 
deep  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  Avell  corked  at 
top,  but  with  no  leads  at  the  bottom,  for  when  mackerel  are 


ff 


a 


320 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


in  a  biting  or  a  moA'ing  mood  they  rise  to  the  surface.  Like 
all  sea  fishes,  the  mackerel  is  more  easily  taken  than  fishes  of 
fresh  waters.  He  foolishly  dashes  at  whatever  he  sees  before 
him  which  he  thinks  will  not  devour  him.  But  in  this  pecu- 
liarity he  does  ncc  differ  from  the  royal  salmon,  which  will 
snap  at  flies  when  out  of  season,  and  evince  the  most  culpable 
rapacity  when  just  returned  from  sea,  even  biting  at  an  arti- 
ficial minnow,  or  a  fly  unlike  any  thing  in  existence. 


The  Mackeuel. — Scombridce — Scomber.  — Linn. 


It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  fish  more  exquisite  in  form, 
or  more  important  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  than  the 
common  mackerel.  It  is  also  capricious  in  its  movements. 
It  is  not  always  to  be  depended  on  for  visiting  us  in  great 
numbers,  though  it  has  never  entirely  deserted  us  for  a  sin- 
gle season.  It  is  in  best  condition  on  our  shores  in  October. 
Then  it  is  most  succulent,  and  orders  for  private  tables  should 
be  made  of  that  month's  catch.  Catches  early  in  the  season 
are  lean.  The  catch  of  June  is  scarcely  worth  salting ;  but 
mackerel  fiitten  fast,  and  by  September  are  very  good.  Oc 
tober  mackerel  are  preferable  to  those  of  any  other  month  in 
the  year,  for,  as  a  singular  fact  in  the  nature  of  the  fish,  it  be- 
gins to  deteriorate  or  lose  condition  in  November,  In  gen- 
eral, mackerel  move  away  from  shore  gradually  after  the  first 
frost,  and  they  finally  settle  off  in  soundings,  not  much  influ- 
enced by  the  cold  weather  along  our  shores.  October  is  con- 
sidered the  closing  month  of  the  mackerel  season ;  but  about 
five  years  since,  near  the  1st  of  December,  the  fishermen  of 
New  Providence,  Massachusetts,  were  surprised  by  the  sight 
of  the  saltatory  exploits  on  the  bay  of  myriads  of  mackerel 
leaping,  shining,  and  gleaming  in  every  direction.    The  boats 


The  Conscience  of  Mackerel. 


321 


were  supplied  with  bait,  and  manned  in  quick  time  for  even 
Yankees,  and  the  take  that  day  was  almost  miraculous.  The 
catch  that  season  had  been  short,  but  that  day  made  up  the 
deficiency  of  the  year.  The  next  morning  indicated  that  the 
shoal  had  stacked  arms  and  rras  prepared  to  march.  But 
few  were  taken  that  day,  and  less  numbers  each  day  for  a 
week  that  the  fleet  followed  them,  when  the  shoals  all  sank, 
as  by  one  general  ordei-,  off  the  coast  of  New  Jersey. 

It  was  matter  of  great  surprise  to  the  fishermen  that  the 
mackerel  voluntarily  yielded  themselves  to  appease  the  fish- 
ermen and  supply  the  fish-casks  of  human  need  ;  but,  having 
done  so,  the  shoals  seemed  to  have  retired  with  a  glow  of  sat- 
isfaction at  having  done  their  duty,  even  aL  the  loss  of  some 
of  their  favorites. 

In  vain  is  the  intimation  to  the  pious  fisherman  that  mack- 
erel are  as  liable  to  mistakes  in  their  calculations  as  men,  and 
so  settled,  before  the  regular  fishing  season  was  over,  in  too 
cold  a  latitude,  and  rose  during  a  warm  terra  to  take  a  lunar, 
and  lay  their  course  for  more  genial  winter  quarters.  No ! 
The  fishermen  believe  that,  smitten  by  conscience  for  not  fur- 
nishing the  usual  supply,  the  fish  voluntarily  yielded  them- 
selves to  the  sacrifice  for  conscience'  sake. 

Mackerel,  to  be  fully  appreciated,  should  leap  as  it  were 
from  the  water  into  the  hands  of  the  cook,  and  be  made  ready 
for  the  gridiron,  broiled,  and  on  the  table  in  half  an  hour  aft- 
er it  has  left  its  native  element.  Or  a  salted  October  mack- 
erel can  not  be  depreciated  by  a  person  of  nice  taste ;  though, 
of  course,  a  fresh  fish  is  better  than  a  cured  one,  and  the  soon- 
er it  is  cooked  after  its  last  shuddering  flutter,  and  its  ultra- 
marine tints  die  aAvay,  the  better. 

The  mackerel  frequents  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Belle  Isle 
to  Long  Island.  It  spawns  in  spring  in  the  bays,  bayous,  and 
estuaries,  and  comes  into  season  for  the  table  in  August.' 

"Whether  from  the  abundance  of  suitable  food  found  at  such  times  or 
from  some  other  causes  wliicb  influencQ  the  migratinnK  of  fisli  it  is  J.-ird  to 
sav,  hut  expenem-e  shows  us  that  on  the  coasts  of  Ireland  mackerel  are 
taken  nearly  all  the  year  round.     They  are  rarely  very  abundant  on  the  coast 

X 


322 


Fishing  m  American  "Wateks. 


i  : 


of  Cornwall— although  never  entirely  absent  from  it— much  before  March. 
A  little  later  thev  visit  the  coast  of  Devonshire,  appearing  to  approach  the 
land  as  the  season  advances.  At  Lowestoft  and  Yarmouth  the  fishing  season 
is  still  later,  and  is  at  its  height  during  the  months  of  May  and  June,  whilst 
in  the  Frith  of  Forth  June  and  July  are  the  months  when  they  usually  ap- 
pear.    In  the  Orkneys  few  fish  are  taken  until  the  last  week  in  July  or  the 

first  in  August.  ,   ,  ,-.1^1 

"The  mackerel  family  have  an  extended  range,  and  are  found  most  abun- 
dant in  warmer  climes  than  the  British  Isles.     The  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the 
Bosphorus  at  times  literaUy  swarm  with  them.     It  is  extremely  pictixresque 
and  exciting  to  see  the  light  and  graceful  'caiques'  dancing  like  bubbles 
over  the  clear  blue  sea,  as,  propelled  by  their  lusty  crews,  they  shoot  here  and 
there  amongst  the  circling  nets.     Meantime  the  cunning  old  cormorants,  un- 
dismayed by  the  bustle  and  splashing  water,  ply  their  occupation  most  dili- 
gently     As  they  grow  audacious  from  long-continued  Impunity,  they  make  a 
sudden  raid  over  the  corks  into  the  thick  of  the  struggling,  fluttering  fiy. 
The  fishermen  shout,  and  by  dint  of  admonitory  pokes,  liberally  administered 
with  the  oar-blades,  the  greedy,  long-necked  throng  are  ignominiously  ex- 
pelled, and  retire  beyond  the  nets,  gobbling  down  at  leisure  their  ill-gotten 
plunder.     Some  idea  of  the  abundance  of  fish  to  be  found  in  this  part  ot  the 
world,  and  of  the  immunity  from  persecution  enjoyed  by  these  krds,  may  be 
formed  by  watching  the  countless  thousands  of  them  which  at  times  pass,  m 
apparently  endless  lines,  between  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Black  Sea.    I 
have  watched  them  for  hours  without  seeing  any  apparent  diminution  in  their 
pf  jsing  hosts.     Vast  numbers  of  mackerel  also  frequent  the  coasts  of  the  isl- 
and of  St.  Helena,  where  immense  quantities  can  be  captured.     I  have  taken 
them  with  the  hook  and  line  until  literally  tired  of  hauling  up  and  unhook- 
ing, baiting  with  a  little  strip  of  salt  pork-rind,  and  throwing  biscuit-dust 
overboard  as  an  attraction.     These  fish,  although  of  excellent  flavor,  are 
rarely  more  than  seven  or  eight  inches  long,  and  are  much  like  the  s/nners, 
or  young  mackerel,  found  abundantly  on  the  English  coast  during  the  sum- 
mer months ;  while  in  British  waters,  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  inches  m 
length,  and  two  pounds  in  weight,  is  not  an  unusual  size.  ,    ,  ,    ^, 

"  Much  importance  appears  in  past  times  to  have  been  attached  to  the 
sale  of  mackerel  in  London,  as  we  find  that  a  law  was  passed  in  the  year 
1098  lego'hmg  their  being  vended  by  a  'cry'  on  Sunday,  which  custom,  as 
Ave  know,  still  continues.  „  ,  ,      , .     a-    *  i 

"  There  are  several  modes  by  Avhich  the  capture  of  the  mackerel  is  effected. 
Seines,  or  long  nets  furnished  with  corks  at  the  top  an'l  leads  at  the  bottoin, 
are  dexterously  carried  by  fast  boats  round  the  advancing  shoal  ot  hsh,  which 
is  inclosed  as  within  a  '  pound.'  The  ends  of  the  net  arc  now  secured,  and 
the  fish  eitlier  taken  from  within  the  inclosure  with  a  smaller  net,  or  drawn 
to  the  surface  in  the  'bunts'  or  bags  formed  in  the  larger  seines,  when  the 
leaping,  struggling  fish  are  dipped  up  literally  by  baskettu  s  (by  men  stationed 
on  the  gunwale  of  the  boat  for  the  purpose)  and  thrown  into  a  compartment 
provided  for  their  reception.  Great  numbers  are  at  times  taken  in  ground 
seines  or  nets,  which,  although  somewhat  like  those  above  described,  are 
smaller,  and  so  arranged  as  to  be  dragged  to  the  beach  with  their  contents. 
'Trammel'  and  'drift'  nets  may  be  compared  to  curtains  suspended  in  mid- 
water,  and  are  moored  securely  in  the  places  selected  for  them  by  heavy 
stones  fastened  to  their  ends.  In  them  the  heedless  fish,  not  perceiving  he 
treacherous  web,  dart  their  heads,  become  hopelessly  entangled,  and  are  ulti- 

'    """llook-fiffhing,  too,  lends  its  aid  in  thinning  the  rainbow  throng.     As  a 
matter  of  sport  and  pastime,  few  pursuits,  I  think,  are  more  thoroughly  en- 


Yielding  Profit  and  Spoet.  323 

the  boat  occasionally  when  vvPfnnnHVJ^  f  ^'=^«''^«'-  ,  Tacking  and  Avearing 
we  killed  thesrbeSS'a??rst  ^J  H^  bT""  n\'^°'^''  ^'^^  *^^'°  ^""''^ 

liilarating. '"  "'"'^'  ^'  "^  ^'""^  ^'^""t  it  is  animated  and  ex- 

Hook-fishing  for  mackerel  is  very  exciting  sport.  A  brisk 
breeze,_sky  mellowed  by  fleecy  clouds,  gulls  swooping  and 
screammg,  every  thing  apparently  in  excitement.  Under 
such  circumstances  and  surroundings,  it  is  not  strange  if  the 
troller,  whiffer,  or  still-baiter  should  inflate  his  lungs  and 
least  his  soul  until  the  waning  sun  warns  him  to  desist  and 
retire. 

Excellent  sport  is  sometimes  to  be  had  by  rowino-  or  scull- 
ing a  boat  into  a  thick  shoal,  and  trolling  for  them  with  feath- 
ered squid,  twirling  spoon,  or  casting  to  them  a  white  artifi- 
cial fly. 

'^'''"tV{8rt'^T«r-'''^'tV'"  ''^  ^'"'''  "^^^"'"^  ""^  Massachusetts 
Pom  18G3  to  18G/,  and  the  average  wholesale  Prices  per  barrel. 

^'""6 90000    "  2100  isonnnnnn 

• — irir^  15  00  i,o.-)0,ooo  00 

1,396,000     "  mm^^O 


;}24 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Waters. 


\ 


Srule  of  Invlit^, 

Hekring  and  Pif.ciiaei>  Famua-.— 1.  The  Mossbonker,  or  Hard-head,  Alom  menhadru 
(very  abmidaiit  on  the  shores  of  Long  Island  and  Mass.  It  is  s-eldom  eaten).  2. 
The  Pilchard,  Clupea piUhardm.  3.  The  Anchovy,  EngrmdiK  engramcolus.  4.  Amer- 
ican Shad,  Alosa pramtabilU.    5.  The  Herring,  Clupca  harengus. 


I 


SECTION   SECOND. 

No.  4. THE    SHAD. 

By  the  rice-border'd  Southern  coast, 

Where  the  Savannah  River  winds, 
The  shad-shoal,  an  nnnumber'd  host, 

Its  earliest  feeding  pasture  finds. 
Thence  northward  where  the  Hudson  sweeps 
Connecticut's  transparent  deeps. 
Their  gleaming  myriads  seek  a  home 
Beyond  the  surges  and  the  foam. 

The  Shad,  comincM-cially,  is  an  important  fish.  It  winters 
in  the  ocean,  dallies  among  the  nets  in  the  estnaries  during 
spring,  after  whicli  it  lays  its  ova  in  the  sands  above  tide-wa- 
ter, and  returns  to  salt  water  to  recuperate.  It  is  very  pro- 
•  lific,  yielding  from  a  fourth  to  half  a  million  eggs  annually 
within  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  Juno.  Tlie  Connecti- 
cut River  is  supposed  to  contain  the  best  shad,  while  those 
of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  are  excellent  fish — vastly  supe- 
rior to  those  of  the  British  Isles,  or  to  the  Alosa  vulgaris, 
which  is  numerous  in  the  rivers  of  France,  but  so  small  and 
lean  as  never  to  be  seen  on  the  table  of  an  epicure.  The  av- 
erage weight  of  shad  hi  Europe  is  less  than  two  pounds,  while 


19 


Economical  Ekiiakfast  Delicacy.  325 

in  America  it  is  double  that  weight.  Tho  Alosajlnta  visits 
«ome  of  the  waters  in  France  and  Spain,  and  it  is  but  recent- 
ly  that  It  has  been  duly  classified  in  France.  The  superiority 
of  American  shad  in  both  size  and  quality  over  those  of  Eu- 
rope IS  probably  caused  by  the  purity  of  our  rivers,  and  the 
peater  amount  of  the  kinds  of  food  relished  by  this  tooth- 
less sprmg  delicacy  of  the  breakfast-table.  It  feeds  on  ani- 
malcule, and  is  exclusively  caught  with  nets. 

The  shad  season  is  comparatively  short,  but  the  principal 
Northern  markets  are  supplied  with  them  from  Southern  Hv- 
ers  in  March,  and  sometimes  as  early  as  February.     They  do 
not  enter  the  rivers  of  New  York  and  Connecticut  before  the 
early  part  of  April ;  and  one  of  the  most  peculiar  features  in 
this  family  of  fishes  was  discovered  by  Seth  Green,  while 
hatching  them  by  artificial  means  at  Ilolyoke,  on  the  Connec- 
ticut River,  where  he  hatched  nearly  one  hundred  millions 
of  shad  in  less  than  six  weeks.     From  the  time  when  he  strip- 
ped the  shad,  and  the  ova  and  milt  settled  in  the  hatching- 
boxes,  not  more  than  thirty-six  hours  elapsed  before  nineteen 
twentieths  of  the  eggs  hatched,  and  the  remainder  within 
twelve  hours  later. 


THE    SHAD   FISHERIES. 
Sixty  days  include  the  shad  season  in  New  York  Bay  and  the  Hud- 
son liner,  during  which  time  the  usual  catch  is  1,100  000  fisli 

averaging  each  25  cts.  as  price,  or \^jr  mn 

The  catch  in  Delaware  ahout  750,000,  25  cts. . .    1 8?  nio 

Connecticut,  400,000,  30  cts ,^o'nnn 

Kennebec,  140,000,  15  cts oornn 

Penobscot,  20,000,  20  cts .' •"••       f'Z^ 

North  Carolina,  500,000,40  cts 20o'oO(l 

Potomac  and  Chesapeake,  300,000,  20  cts "'     fio'oOO 

Norfolk  and  vicinity,  200,000,  30  cts go'ooo 

iiJTlMHJO 
Although  the  shad  of  Southern  waters  are  inferior  to  those 
of  the  Northern,  yet,  as  the  earliest  in  market,  they  command 
the  price  of  a  rarity.  The  foregoing  wholesale  prices  are 
copied  from  the  books  of  tlie  most  extensive  dealers  in  Ful- 
ton Market,  New  York. 


;J2« 


FisuLNO  IN  Amekican  "VVaters. 


SECTION  THIRD. 

No.  1. — THE   MOSSBUNKER   OR  MENHADEN. 

On  salt-sea  borders,  sound,  and  bay, 
The  twinkling  spring-time  sunbeams  play. 
And  white  with  froth  the  billows  shine 
Where  the  mossbunkers  lash  the  brine. 
Above  them  flocks  of  sea-gulls  swing, 
Beneath  the  hungry  bluefish  spring. 
And,  deadlier  still,  the  surfmen  strain 
The  oars,  and  mesh  them  with  the  seine. 

The  menhaden  is  a  white  fish,  with  large  scales  of  metallic 
lustre.  It  disports,  during  spring,  summer,  and  autumn,  oft' 
the  coast  and  in  the  estuaries  from  Delaware  to  the  Bay  of 
Passamaquoddy.  It  is  from  nine  to  twelve  inches  long,  and 
in  shape  resembles  a  diminutive  shad,  though  not  so  wide  or 
thin  for  its  length.  It  is  a  very  oily  fish,  very  bony,  and 
therefore  never  eaten  except  by  fishermen,  who  frequently 
salt  it  for  winter  use.     Its  flavor  is  like  that  of  the  shad. 

The  principal  estimate  of  value  put  upon  the  menhaden  is 
for  its  quality  as  the  best  bait  for  attracting  mackerel,  striped 
bass,  bluefish,  and  even  such  of  the  Gaclidm  as  the  haddock, 
and  of  the  Crustacea  as  the  lobster.  It  is  either  ground  or 
chopped  fine  and  cast  upon  the  water  to  attract  mackerel  and 
other  food-fishes  to  the  hook,  while  it  is  the  best  bait  for  lob- 
ster-pots. The  annual  diminution  in  the  numbers  of  mackerel 
taken  within  the  past  five  years— as  shown  by  the  statistics- 
is  justly  attributable  to  the  increase  of  the  manufacture  of 
menhaden  oil.  About  five  years  since  some  person  conceived 
the  brilliant  idea  of  making  oil  from  menhaden  by  grinding 
them  to  a  pulp,  putting  them  under  a  press,  and  squeezing 
ou|  the  oil.  He  formed  a  company,  which  erected  buildings, 
introduced  machinery,  and  bought  sail-boats  and  nets.  For 
a  couple  of  years,  while  menhaden  were  so  abundant  as  to  be 
used  for  manure  in  some  places  along  the  coast,  the  menhaden 
oil  companies  made  generous  dividends ;  but  no  sooner  did 
this  fact  become  known  among  enterprising  geniuses  than 


Calllno  fob  Legislation. 


327 


nearly  two  hundred  manufactories  were  put  in  operation,  and 
the  sails  of  menhaden  boats  enlivened  Long  Island  Sound 
throughout  its  length  and  breadth,  their  flocks  of  white  wings 
extending  along  the  Atlantic  shore  for  five  hundred  miles,  as 
if  striving  with  the  numerous  shoals  of  porpoises  to  see  which 
could  do  the  most  harm  to  the  fishing  interest  by  robbing  the 
fishermen  of  the  greatest  amount  of  bait.     But  every  "year 
since  the  shoals  of  menhaden  have  decreased  in  number,  so 
that  while  the  fishermen  begin  to  find  the  price  of  bait  op- 
pressive, some  oil  factories  have  been  compelled  to  suspend 
operations.     It  may  be  a  question  worthy  of  attention  by  po- 
litical economists  and  statesmen  whether  menhaden  oil  manu- 
factories should  not  be  taxed  out  of  existence  for  the  injury 
they  are  causing  to  the  public ;  for  the  oil  companies  off-er  in- 
ducements which  attract  fishermen  from  their  legitimate  call- 
mg,  enhance  the  prices  of  most  kinds  of  food-fishes,  and  thus 
injure  the  public. 

Laws  which  should  adequately  encourage  by  premiums  the 
capture  of  the  black  porpoise  and  the  pufier  would  greatly 
improve  the  coast  fisheries.     This  course  was  deferred  until 
the  porpoises  robbed  some  of  the  rivers  of  Ireland"  of  their 
salmon,  by  watching  in  large  shoals  at  the  mouths  of  rivers 
when  the  salmon  were  returning  to  spawn.    Already  the 
black  porpoise-the  most  injurious  to  food-fishes  of  all  the 
mammal  tribes-are  becoming  so  numerous  along  the  coast, 
and  in  the  bays  and  estuaries,  that  the  fishermen  rightly  con- 
sider them  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  annual  decrease 
of  striped  bass  and  many  other  excellent  fishes.     The  valua- 
ble oil  of  the  porpoise  would  be  a  sufficient  reward  for  its  cap- 
ture if  the  fishermen  could  be  so  encouraged  as  to  induce 
them  to  decline  catching  menhaden  for  oil  mills,  and  brino- 
their  forces  to  bear  against  the  porpoise,  the  oil  of  which  is 
the  finest  in  the  worid  for  jewelers'  use,  and  the  lubrication 
of  all  machinery  requiring  a  fine  and  pure  article. 

By  some  such  means  as  I  have  hinted  at  the  shoals  of  food- 
fishes  may  be  checked  in  their  eastern  migrations,  and  in- 


328 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


' 


duced  to  forage  in  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  instead 
of  settling  beyond  their  limits. 

MENHADEN   FOR   BAIT. 

The  largest  fleet  engaged  at  catching  menhaden  bait  ajong 
the  coast  is  at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  where  twenty  fast-sailhig 
tishing-smacks  are  engaged  six  months  of  t !  year  at  netting 
menhaden,  and  their  annual  sales  of  bait  average  hi  amount 
|i75,000.  Of  the  pilchard,  No.  2,  and  anchovy,  No.  3,  they  are 
European  fishes ;  but  the  herring.  No.  5,  swarms  along  all  the 
shores  and  inlets  of  the  Atlantic  during  the  s[)ring  and  sum- 
mer months ;  and  whether  it  is  the  want  of  duly  appreciating 
the  fish,  or  because  American  fishermen  have  better  employ- 
ment during  the  season  which  the  herring  visits  our  shores, 
I  know  not,  but  it  does  not  claim  its  proportionate  share  of 
interest  and  attention  among  the  numerous  families  of  Ameri- 
can food-fishes. 


FROZEN  herrings. 

Late  in  autumn  about  fifty  vessels  sail  annually  from  Mas- 
sachusetts to  Newfoundland  for  frozen  herrings.  Their  aver- 
age catch  is  one  hundred  tons  each,  and  their  wholesale  price 
in  the  New  York  markets  is  three  cents  a  pound,  or  $300,000. 


SECTION  FOURTH. 

THE   CODFISH — CATCHING    AND  CURING   IT. 

Far  oft'  by  stormy  Labrador — 

Far  off"  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland, 
Where  angry  seas  incessant  roar, 

And  foggy  mists  their  wings  expand, 
The  fishing-schooners,  black  and  low, 
For  weary  months  sail  to  and  fro  ; 
Seeking  no  home,  no  rest  the  while. 
Till  each  is  freighted  full  with  spoil. 

While  visiting  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  River,  on  the 
north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  I  spent  some  time  in 
examining  the  modics  operandi  of  taking  and  dry-curing  cod. 


Industry  of  wokld-wild  Iaipoktaxce.  329 

Fishermen  from  the  isles  of  Guernsey  and  Jersey,  with  those 
trom  the  British  American  Provinces,  had  come  from  afar 
with  tlieir  wives  and  little  ones,  and  early  in  June  settled  in 
log  cabins,  to  remain  during  the  cod-fishing  season,  which 
they  supposed,  would  continue  until  September,  when  with' 
their  freighted  vessels,  they  would  embark  on  their  i,erilous 
voyage  ibr  home  and  a  market.     Their  fleet  numbered  sixty 
sail,  with  a  scull-boat  (in  which  a  sail  might  be  hoisted  in 
case  of  necessity)  for  each  vessel.     This  fleet  emplo^a>d  also 
two  sail-boats,  with  nets,  to  catch  caplin  for  bait."    Lar^e 
shoals  of  caplin,  smelt,  and  si)earing  foraged  about  the^stu- 
ary  and  along  the  bay  and  coast,  wisely  intended,  no  doubt, 
as  food  for  salmon,  cod,  and  other  members  of  the  Gamce 
family,  besides  the   more  ferocious   monsters   of  the   deep 
which  seem  to  stop  at  nothing.     During  my  stay  of  a  week 
among  these  fishermen,  and  from  what  experience  I  before 
enjoyed  with  the  class,  I  am  forced  to  conclude,  with  Victor 
Hugo  and  others  who  have  studied  the  habits  of  men  and 
deduced  therefrom  theories  for  the   influence  which  their 
avocations  exert  upon  their  dispositions,  that  fishermen  are 
the  most  amiable,  patient,  and  obliging  class  of  men  in  the 
world.     They  are  temperate,  industrious,  frugal,  and  aftec- 
tionate  among  themselves,  and  hospitable  to  strangers 


The  Codfish. 

The  fleet  sailed  out  of  the  harbor  every  morning,  each  ves- 
sel taking  a  supply  of  bait  as  it  passed  the  caplin-netters, 
when  they  would  come  to  anchor  at  certain  distances  apart 
along  the  Banks,  sometimes  within  a  mile  of  shore,  but  more 
generally  from  five  to  twenty  miles,  always  following  the  fish 


330 


rrsiiiNO  IN  Ameeican  Waters. 


n 

r 


i. 


as  they  changed  feeding  -  grounds.     On  tlieir  return  in  the 
evening  they  ran  alongside  the  planked  docks,  extending  into 
the  river  from  the  salting  and  packing  houses,  ecected  part- 
ly over  the  water.     From  vessels  the  cod  were  pitched  up 
on  the  docks  (with  forks  made  for  the  purpose),  where  they 
were  beheaded,  split,  drawn,  and  cleaned,  then  pitched  into 
the  salting-room,  where  salt  was  rubbed  into  them  for  two 
days,  and  on  the  third  day  they  were  spread  on  the  flakes  to 
dry.     The  "  flakes"  are  tables  of  fir-boughs,  made  by  driving 
forked  stakes  into  the  ground,  then  laying  poles  across,  and 
covering  them  with  boughs  of  the  fir-tree.    These  flakes  were 
two  yards  wide,  three  feet  high,  and  covered  several  acres. 
The  fish,  after  being  salted  two  days,  on  the  third  day  are 
spread  singly  upon  the  flakes  to  dry.    Here  they  are  left  four 
days,  when  they  are  grouped  into  small  piles  on  the  flakes 
of  twenty-five  fish  in  each  pile,  and  left  in  that  condition  two 
days  to  sweat,  when  they  are  again  spread  on  the  flakes  as  at 
first,  and,  after  two  days  more,  are  piled  up  two  days  as  be- 
fore.    Then  they  are  gathered  from  the  flakes  and  formed 
into  round  stacks,  their  necks  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  stack, 
which  is  usually  about  five  feet  high,  and  contains  a  ton  of 
fish.     After  leaving  them  a  week  in  stack,  they  again  distrib- 
ute them  on  the  flakes  to  dry,  and  after  another  week  they 
again  stack  them.     They  are  thus  continued  on  the  flakes  or 
in  pack  about  a  month  in  summer,  but  only  half  that  time  in 
autumn,  when  they  are  considered  cured.     The  cod  cured  on 
the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  are  dried  harder  than  those  on 
the  south  shore  for  the  United  States  market.     Those  cured 
on  the  north  shore  are  generally  sold  in  South  America,  the 
West  Indies,  and  to  ports  in  the  British  Isles. 

The  question  of  "What  luck  have  you  had?"  is  more  espe- 
cially applicable  to  fishers  for  the  market  than  to  the  disciple 
of  rod  and  reel ;  for,  without  bait,  a  perilous  voyage  and  a 
whole  season's  labor  produce  nothing  but  disappointment. 
The  caplin,  spearing,  and  smelt  are  sometimes  prevented  by 
rough  weather  from  npproachino-  waters  where  the'^  mav  be 


An  intpjkestino  Variety. 


331 


taken  with  the  seine,  in  which  case  there  is  no  use  of  thinkini? 
of  substitutes  for  these  baits,  as  the  cod  Ibllow  them  and  foi" 
age  upon  tliem  far  away  from  the  ken  of  fishermen,  or  their 
power  to  follow.  Thus  the  career  of  the  fisherman  is  both 
liazardous  and  precarious. 


The  John  Doity. 


I 


SiSssaEis.. 


332 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


«•! 


CHAPTER  III. 

WIIALES— Ceta<^a— an  order  of  aquatic  mammalB  which  comprises  the  largest  ani- 
mated forms  in  existence :  some  of  the  genera  composing  it  are  phytophagous,  or 
plant-eaters ;  others  are  zoophagous,  or  animal-eaters. 

WHALE  FISHING. 

"  \\Tiat  though  the  wintry  night  falls  dark, 
And  icy  foes  beset  our  bark, 
And  stiff  our  frozen  rigguig  stands, 
Enclasp'd  with  rigid  iron  bands. 
While  sheeted  ice,  like  solid  mail. 
Thickens  each  spar  and  stiffen 'd  sail  ? 

Yet  brave  are  whalemen's  valiant  hearts, 
And  stout  are  whalemen's  hands  ; 

And  strong  the  arm  the  harpoon  darts, 
And  strong  the  arm  that  wields  the  lance. 
When  o'er  the  tides  our  whale-boats  glance 

To  battle  with  the  whale. 
Leviathan  may  lash  the  tide. 
But  soon  his  floating,  bleeding  side. 
And  soon  the  spouting  streams  of  gore, 
That  o'er  the  ensanguin'd  waters  pour, 

Declare  that  all  is  o'er. 
Right  soon  the  precious  oil  is  won, 
Oiu-  dangerous  labors  all  are  done, 
And  homewivrd — liomeward  is  the  cry, 
With  all  sails  spreading  to  the  sky." — Isaac  M'Lellan. 


Spouting  in  favor  of  Gas. 


33;j 


^ 


ai- 
or 


WHALE    PISHING. 

HALING  is  the  most  ad- 
venturous occupation 
known  within  the  cir- 
cle of  legitimate  in- 
dustry. It  demands 
not  only  the  explora- 
tions of  most  danger- 
ous  seas,  but  a  resi- 
dence upon  them  dur- 
ing the  most  inclem- 


ent seasons.  For 
many  years  very  lit- 
tle whaling  has  been 
done  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  off  the  coast  of  Labra- 
dor, but  the  whales  are  again  returning  to  their  wonted  feed- 
ing-grounds there,  and  the  walruses  or  sea-cows  nightly  ap- 
proach, and  sometimes  rest  on  the  islands. 

The  Georgia  shoals,  and  banks  near  Newfoundland  gener- 
ally, teem  with  nearly  all  the  fishes  of  the  Northern  seas. 
Fishes  from  afar  visit  those  feeding-grounds,  which  are  form- 
ed into  rich  pastures  by  the  settling  of  the  debris  washed 
down  from  near  the  frigid  zone.     The  heavy  tides  whose 
swift  currents  sweep  around  Scotland  and  Ireland  are  met  by 
counter  tides  and  strong  currents  from  Baffin's  and  Hudson's 
Bays,  and  these  precipitate  vegetable  and  mineral  matters,  in- 
cluding the  drift  of  large  rocks  in  icebergs,  and,  being  assist- 
ed by  the  backing  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  they  have  already  form- 
ed the  island  of  Newfoundland,  the  Fishing  Banks,  and  the 
small  islands  which  dot  those  waters,  all  of  which  will  yet 
rise  into  an  extensive  territory,  connecting  Newfoundland 
\v  ith  the  main  land  south  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.     The 
waters  of  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle,  which  form  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal outlets  to  the  gulf,  are  so  deep,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of 
tho  tides  so  great,  that  they  liave  contributed  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  island  of  Anticosti,  Avhich  is  larger  than  Long  Isl- 


inr 


I 


I 


i 


334 


FismNG  IN  American  Waters. 


and,  N.Y.  With  the  great  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides,  and  the 
consequent  swift  currents,  many  eddies  are  thus  formed,  and 
for  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  south  of  Newfoundland,  and  ex- 
tending to  the  west  end  of  Anticosti,  the  feeding-grounds  for 
food-fishes  form  a  larger  fishing  area  than  any  other  in  the 
world. 

This  meeting  and  mingling  of  the  frosty  Northern  waters 
with  those  more  mild  from  the  Gulf  Stream  are  supposed  to 
form  another  attraction  for  fishes,  and  the  bait-fishes  are  fol- 
lowed thither  by  the  food-fishes,  and  the  latter  by  most  of  the 
voracious  monsters  of  the  deep,  and  thus  procreation  and 
depletion  keep  step  with  supply  and  demand. 

A  voyage  by  schooner  from  the  north  shore  of  the  Gulf, 
and  turning  the  west  end  of  Anticosti  while  boiind  for  Gaspe, 
gave  me  some  sights  of  whales  in  spouting  groups  which 
would  be  worth  a  voyage  from  New  York  to  those  waters  to 
witness.  Whales  generally  swim  in  i^airs,  unless  they  have 
a  calf,  when  that  swims  between  them  for  protection ;  but  I 
saw  several  groups  at  a  time  of  more  than  three  in  each,  all 
spouting  like  politicians.  Our  tub  of  a  schooner,  which  kept 
"  bidding  and  bobbing"  like  Mrs.  Toodles  at  an  auction,  re- 
minded me  of  the  following  couplet : 

"  When  to  the  wind  we  spread  our  sails, 
Along  the  pathless  ocean  strolling, 
Crammed  in  a  tub  stock  full  of  nails, 
Like  Regains,  we  die  by  rolling. " 

Having  thus  spent  a  few  nights  and  days  on  the  turbulent 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  rising  one  bright  morning  unharmed  in 
our  tub,  ivhich  seemed  cast  to  the  whales,  as.  they  surrounded 
us,  we  were  elate  with  joy  at  the  brilliant  display  which  na- 
ture afforded  in  the  bright  heavens,  sparkling  waves,  whales 
spouting  in  every  direction,  the  light-house  looming  on  the 
Isle  of  Anticosti,  and  the  appearance  of  numerous  beautiful 
birds  swimming  about  our  craft,  which  we  learned  were  puf- 
fins, a  species  of  duck  peculiar  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence 
near  Anticosti.     These  birds  are  about  the  size  of  a  mallard, 


An  inteeesting  Voyage. 


335 


but  robed  in  scinfcillant  plumage  of  green  tipped  with  purple, 
and  farther  ornamented  with  a  beak  shaped  like  a  parrot's^ 
of  a  bright  vermilion  color. 

As  the  sun  rose  above  the  snowy  peaks  of  Labrador,  the 
sails  slackened,  when  half  a  mile  to  westward  we  saw  sloVly 
rise  above  the  waves  a  white  triangular  fin,  then  an  enormous 
head  M^hich  spouted  a  large  shower  of  spray  high  above  the 
waves,  next  a  huge  back,  and  finally  the  enormous  tail  of  a 
monster  double  the  length  of  our  schooner. 

We  were  shocked  at  the  appearance  of  the  monster,  its 
great  size,  and  the  enormous  volume  of  water  it  spouted,  and 
the  wake  and  roaring  splash  which  its  breaking  water  and 
diving  produced.  The  sailors  informed  us  that  it  was  a  sul- 
phur whale,  one  of  the  Mammalia,  so  vicious  and  powerful 
that  whalers  seldom  or  never  attack  that  species. 

In  the  book  on  ''Salmon-fishing  in  Canada;'  by  Colonel 
Sir  James  E.  Alexander,  author  of  an  important  work  on  ex- 
plorations, he  devotes  a  considerable  space  to  the  once  sup- 
posed phenomenon  of  mirages.     Those  who  have  sailed  near 
the  Mingan  Islands  have  doubtless  observed  the  singular 
forms  assumed  by  objects  at  a  distance,  which  is  causedl^y  a 
peculiar  state  of  atmosphere,  and  the  different  degrees  of 
temperature  and  qualities  of  the  waters  intervening  between 
the  beholder  of  the  mirage  and  the  objects  seen  through  it. 
The  peculiar  mil-age  along  the  Mingan  Islands  is  supposed  to 
be  caused  by  the  number  of  large  rivers  debouching  in  the 
Gulf  there,  and,  from  their  rapidity,  carrying  waters  a  great 
way  out  on  the  Gulf  which  differ  ih  temperature  and  quality 
from  that  upon  which  they  apparently  float  on  the  surface. 

It  is  stated  that  "  the  most  remarkable  mirages  over  wa- 
ter have  occurred  in  straits,"  as  those  seen  by  Mr.  Vance  at 
Dover,  and  the  celebrated  Fata  Morgana  at  Messina.  In 
the  St.  Lawrence  they  present  greater  and  more  interesting 
varieties  of  ocular  deception,  as  at  Bic,  Point  des  Monts,  Min- 
gan, and  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle. 
To  return  to  my  subject.    The  sight  of  a  whale-ship  round- 


330 


Fishing  in  Ajueric.in  Waters. 


ing  the  end  of  Anticosti,  and  several  game-looking  boats  row- 
ing away  from  lier,  increased  our  anxiety,  as  the  sailors  said 
that  we  were  in  the  midst  of  numerous  shoals  of  commercial 
whales,  including  the  "  fenners"  and  "  hump  -  hacks."    The 
white  pectoral  fin  of  the  sulphur  was  seen  to  rise  at  intervals, 
receding  in  distance,  when  all  at  once  two  huge  black  masses 
arose  before  us  and  spouted.     They  proved  to  be  a  mother 
and  her  calf,  of  the  hump-back  family.     Nearer  and  more 
near  approached  the  boats  from  tlie  whaler;  and,  after  the 
whales  rose  to  spout,  as  they  descended  the  boats  quickened 
their  speed  toward  where  they  expected  the  next  rise.    This 
was  repeated  several  times,  until  at  last,  just  as  one  of  the 
monsters  rose,  the  man  at  the  bow  of  the  nearest  boat  plunged 
the  harpoon  deep  in  his  body  near  the  heart. 

"Laugh  at  fear! 
riimge  it  Ac    ,  the  barhcd  .spear ! 
Strike  the  hince  in  swift  career ! 
Give  him  Une  I  give  him  line ! 
Down  he  goes  through  the  foaming  brine." 

The  instant  rush  of  the  infuriated  fish  drew  the  b  at  hissinr. 
through  the  waters  at  a  speed  which  soon  hid  it  from  our 
view,  rendering  the  sight  really  sublime ;  and  when  addino- 
that  the  mother  whale  followed,  lashing  the  waves  with  her 
tail  and  leaping  like  a  salmon,  the  reader  may  picture  to  his 
imagination — fishing ! 

The  mother  whale  swam  numerous  times  round  her  calf, 
trying  to  entice  it  seaward  away  from  its  pursuers ;  but  its' 
strength  slowly  fliiling  with  fatigue  and  los.  of  blood,  it  rose 
to  spout.  Then  might  be  seen  the  mother's  tender  solicitude 
lor  her  young,  as  she  all  but  cr.ressed  it  and  coaxed  it  to  fol- 
low her  out  of  harm's  way,  and  several  times  persuasively 
swam  a  little  distance,  and  then  returned  to  assist  it. 

The  boatmen  were  meantime  hauling  in  line  and  coiling 
It  carefully  in  a  tub  made  for  the  purpose,  when,  like  light- 
ning, off  the  whale  started  again,  more  rapidly,  apparently, 
than  at  first.     The  mother  cavorted  and  disported  around 


Opinion  of  an  eloquent  Ikisuman.  337 

her  young,  as  if  to  bid  it  persist  and  escape  the  wicked  whal- 
'   ers.     But  th^  firmly-fixed  liarpoon  held  the  young  whale  to 
the  tether,  and  after  several  runs  it  rose  to  the  surfiice  in  or- 
der to  make  its  last  fight,  to  which  all  previous  efforts  seemed 
tame.     It  lashed  the  waves  with  a  noise  like  thunder,  and 
the  spray  caused  by  it  and  by  the  leap    and  writhings  of  the 
agonized  mother  was  carried  more  than  a  mile,  causing  a 
bhndnig  mist  for  many  rods  around.     Finally,  all  efibrts  fail- 
ing, the  young  whale  gave  the  final  shudder  and  was  dead 
lying  lifeless  on  the  surface.    Then  went  up  the  shouts  of  the' 
boatmen,  in  which  we  joined ;  but  a  hauser,  lashed  to  the 
tail  of  the  dead  whale,  enabled  the  crews  to  float  it  slowly 
toward  the  whale-ship,  which  had  drawn  near.    But  the  moth- 
er whale  continued  to  lash  the  waters,  as  with  snorting  and 
blowing  she  evinced  signs  of  fury  until  long  after  the  blub- 
ber-spades had  dissected  much  of  the  body,  and  a  sea  of  blood 
surrounded  the  ship. 

I  will  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  eloquent  peroration 
of  the  gifted  Burke,  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1774: 
"As  to  the  wealth  which  the  colonists  have  drawn  from  the 
sea  by  their  fisheries,  you  had  that  matter  fully  opened  at 
your  bar.     You  surely  thought  these  acquisitions  of  value, 
for  they  seemed  to  excite  your  envy;  and  yet  the  spirit  by 
which  that  enterprising  employment  has  been  exercised  ought 
rather,  in  my  opinion,  to  have  raised  esteem  and  admiration. 
And  pray,  sir,  what  in  the  world  ia  equal  to  it  ?    Pass  by  the 
other  parts,  and  look  at  the  manner  in  which  the  New  En- 
gland people  carry  on  the  whale  fishery.     While  we  follow 
them  among  the  tumbling  mountains  of  ice,  and  behold  them 
penetrating  into  the  deepest  frozen  recesses  of  Hudson's  Bay 
and  Davis's  Straits;  while  we  are  looking  for  them  beneath 
the  arctic  circle,  we  hear  that  they  have  pierced  into  the  op- 
posite region  of  polar  cold— that  they  are  at  the  antipodes, 
and  engaged  under  the  frozen  serpent  of  the  south.     Falk- 
land Island,  which  seemed  too  remote  and  too  romantic  an 
object  for  the  grasp  of  national  ambition,  is  but  a  stage  and 


338 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


£ 


resting-place  for  their  victorious  industry.  Nor  is  the  equi- 
noctial heat  more  discouraging  to  them  than  the*  accumulated 
winter  of  both  poles.  We  learn  that  while  some  of  them 
draw  the  line  or  strike  the  harpoon  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
others  run  the  longitude  and  pursue  their  gigantic  game 
along  the  coast  of  Brazil.  No  sea  but  what  is  vexed  with 
their  fisheries — no  climate  that  i?  '.■  ^  witness  of  their  toils. 
Neither  the  perseverance  of  Hci  '  lor  the  activity  of 
France,  nor  the  dexterous  and  firm  b.^acity  of  English  enter- 
prise, ever  carried  this  most  perilous  mode  of  hardy  industry 
to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  pursued  by  this  recent 
people — a  people  who  are  still  in  the  gristle,  and  not  harden- 
ed into  manhood." 


THE   STRIPED   RED   MULLET. 

The  striped  red  mullet,  a  beautiful  fish  of  a  pale  pink  col- 
or, but  somewhat  larger  than  the  one  known  to  the  Romans, 
is  found  in  considerable  numbers  on  the  English  coasts.  The 
mullets,  like  the  cod  and  some  other  fish  which  feed  in  deep 
water,  are  furnished  with  long  feelers  attached  to  the  lower 
jaw,  supposed  to  be  delicate  organs  of  touch,  by  which  these 
fish  are  enabled  to  select  their  food  on  the  muddy  bottoms. 
This  fish  is  more  gamy  than  the  golden  mullet  of  the  Ameri- 
can borders  of  the  Atlantic,  but  it  is  vastly  inferior  for  the 
table. 


Striped  Red  Mullet. — Mulltis  sunmletus. 


l^....^.. 


The  Coast  Industkies. 


339 


CHAPTER  ly. 

SALT-WATER  FISHERIES. 

COD-LIVER  OIL. 

Maine  and  Massachusetts 

make    annually    about 

5000  bbls,  common  oil, 

iuch  as  is  generally  used 

for  tanning  purposes,  or 

150,000  gals.,  at  80  cts.$  120,000  00 

n    ^^^^^^^^^^^as   200  bbls.  superior  oil,  used 

,,       i^^^^^^^^^^^^^       ^*^''   nicdical    purposes, 

IT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BE       and  made  at  Gloucester 

[|  v!^T^^g^^^^^^B|       and  Rockport,  6000  gal- 

\v^_:^^^Bl^^^^^B       Ions,  at  $150 $9,000  00 

Tongues  and  sounds. 
The  yearly  catch  of  Glouces- 
ter vessels  averages  1000 
bbls.,  at  $8 $8,000  00 

DRIED  CODFISH. 

Massachusetts.  The  av- 
erage annual  make  is 

350,000quintals,  at$6 $2,100,000  00 

Maine.  The  average  annual  make  is  200,000  quintals,  at  $G..  1,200,000  00 

$3,300,000  00 

HALIBUT  FISHERY. 

Halibut  caught  by  vessels  of  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  aver- 
age annually,  for  five  years  past,  10,000,000  lbs.,  at  10  cts.. $1,000,000  00 

Yearly  catch  by  Boston  vessels,  2,500,000  lbs.,  at  10  cts 250,000  00 

$1,250,000  00 

SMOKING  SALMON   AND  HALIBUT. 

Oi.e  Boston  house  smokes  10,000  bbls.  annually,  at  the  average 

price  per  bbl.  of  $38 $380,000  00 

Do.,  10,000  bbls.,  at  $10 100,000  00 

Do.,  13,000  quintals*  of  smoked  halibut,  9  cts.  per  lb 131,040  00 

$611,040  00 

THE   EASTPORT  FISHERY. 

Fish  caught  and  cured  in  the  vicinity  of  Eastport,  Maine  : 

30,000  boxes  smoked  herrings,  40  cts $12,000  00 

'  A  qniutal  is  112  lbs. 


340                Fishing  in  American  Waters. 
,,.„^J^^"f  ^  ^«™"':f--; ii2,ooo  00 

1500  bbls.  herring  oil,  $30 45  qqq  qq 

8000  quintals  dried  cod,  $3 ^     '     24000  00 

20,000  quintals  dried  pollock,  $2 '    '     4n'nnn  nn 

;s,T, ,"  .,i„'-^'="'»'™- ■■"■"-"""  ^^^ 

500  bbls.  liver  oil,  $30 15  000  00 

3000  bbls.  pickled  cod,  $4 l'>'ooo  00 

5700    "         "        herrings,  $4 'ZZZ:::Z     2^800  00 

1200    "         "       mackerel,  $15 I80OO00 

500      "        "        haddock,  $2  50 ZZ'.       ],'2."o  00 

$205,050  00 

The  foregoing  statement  is  made  by  Captain  S.  Treat,  of 
Eastport,  and  is  an  average  annual  catch  for  the  past  five 
years  to  1868. 

WHOLESALE   FISH   DEPARTIVIENT  OF  FULTON  MARKET. 
This  includes  fourteen  establishments  confined  to  the  pur- 
chase and  sale  of  food-fishes.     The  average  annual  sales 

by  each  is  $150,000.     Aggregate $2,100,000  00 

In  addition  to  these  sales,  they  employ  one  hundred  and  eleven 
fishing-smacks,  the  average  annual  catches  by  each  amount- 
ing to  $12,000,  or  an  aggregate  of. 1,332,000  00 

$3,432,000  00 

SCOLLOPS. 

The  trade  in  scollops  is  annually  increasing,  but,  like  the  other 
vast  water-fields  of  Crustacea,  the  business  is  still  embryotic 
and  the  trade  undeveloped.  East  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  sup- 
plies 100  gallons  daily  for  half  the  year,  or  18,200  gallons 
at75  cents jg  ^.^ 

Southport,  Matatuck,  Cutchogue,  and  Jamesport,  on  Long  Isl-        •   ' 
and,  supply  in  the  aggregate  six  months  18,200  gallons  at 

75  cents 

13,650  00 

$27,300  00 

SOFT-SHELL  CLAMS. 

Comstock  &  Co.,  of  Fulton  Market,  sold  last  year  3,250,000  for  $8000  It 
IS  estimated  that  this  is  about  one  sixth  of  the  aggregate  annual  sale  in 
the  United  States,  which  would  render  the  sum  total $48,000  00 

I  could  not  get  an  estimate  on  the  business  done  in  hard 
clams,  though  it  is  nearly  or  quite  as  large  as  that  in  soft 
shells. 

SMELTS. 

Trade  in  smelts  is  confined  to  six  months,  or  to  the  inclement 
season  of  the  year,  for  which  time  the  sales  in  Fulton  Mar- 
ket averaged  1,352,000  at  16  cents $216  320  00 


l^Z 


A  Chesapeake  Industey. 


341 


SALMON,  FRESH  AND  SALTED. 

One  Boston  house  sells  annually  10,000  bbls.  salmon,  the  fresh 
and  salted  fish  averaging  per  bbl.  $38 $380,000  m 

i00,000  bbls.  herrings,  cured  and  smoked  in  the  manner  of  Yar- 
mouth bloaters,  $10  per  bbl 1,000,000  00 

THE    OYSTER   INDUSTRY. 

Of  the  delicious  bivalve  which  "gets  out  of  bed  to  be  tucked  in,"  it  is  impos- 
sible to  arrive  at  an  appropriate  estimate  of  all  which  are  canned  for  the 
interior  trade,  and  those  sold  in  the  sheU  f  -  consumption  in  the  Atlantic 
States ;  but  of  the  trade  from  Virginia  to  Massachusetts,  it  is  computed 
by  the  largest  dealers  in  the  industry  that  about  50,000,000  bushels  are  an- 
nually sold  at  50  cents  per  bushel $25,000  000  00 

The  following,  copied  from  the  Baltimore  report  of  the  in- 
dustry in  that  single  city  for  the  past  year,  may  give  some 
idea  of  the  importance  of  this  crustaceous  bivalve : 

OYSTERS  AND  CANNED  GOODS, 

This  trade  has  been  m  fair  activity  throughout  the  year.  The  number  of 
houses  prosecutmg  it  now  reaches  about  seventy-three,  of  which  some  forty 
are  strictly  in  the  packing  trade.  The  hands  employed  equal  probably  5000 
of  both  sexes  in  the  various  departments  of  shucking,  packing,  peeling,  pre- 
serving, etc.  Six  to  eight  million  bushels  of  oysters  are  consumed,  one  third 
of  which  are  packed  raw,  and  the  balance  hermetically  sealed.  The  cans  re- 
quired for  these  reach  about  3,000,000  to  4,000,000  of  half  to  one  gallon 
each,  and  require  say  300,000  cases  to  pack  them.  The  balance  of  the  oys- 
ters, say  some  4,000,000  bushels,  are  put  up  in  hermetically  sealed  cans  of  1, 
2,  and  3  pounds  each,  of  which  during  the  active  season  some  80  to  100,000 
cans  are  daily  packed,  so  that  some  12  to  1G,000,000  of  cans  are  required  for 
this  trade  annually.  It  is  estimated  that  some  $14,000,000  to  $16,000,000 
are  invested  in  this  interest  in  and  around  Baltimore,  and  that  the  annual 
product  is  worth  some  $6,000,000  to  $7,000,000. 

The  number  of  vessels  said  to  be  engaged  in  that  business 
on  the  Chesapeake  is  over  1600,  which  give  employment  to 
more  than  6000  persons.  Had  the  trade  to  California  contin- 
ued, the  industry  would  have  been  greatly  augmented ;  but 
in  that  land  of  abundance  fishes  of  nearly  all  kinds  are  more 
numerous  than  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  so  that  there  salmon  is 
too  common  for  food,  and  the  sardine  canning  industry  bids 
fair  to  supersede  that  of  the  Mediterranean. 


U2 


Fishing  in  Ajmeeican  Waters. 


THE   CHESAPEAKE   BAY  FISHERY. 

By  the  followino'   .stimate,  made  by  Messrs.  Monroe  & 
Uemeny,  of  Alexandria— the  largest  fishery  firm  in  the  South 
—I  am  informed  that  25,000,000  herrings  are  caught  in  about 
six  weeks,  and  5,000,000  shad  are  taken  in  the  mean  time, 
being  in  March  and  April.     These  are  caught  by  from  20  to 
25  shad  fisheries,  giving  employment  to  about  1000  men  and 
from  75  to  100  vessels.     Of  course,  those  include  the  fisheries 
along  the  Chesapeake,  in  both  the  states  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia;  yet  I  prefer  to  submit  those  samples  of  individual 
enterprise  to  the  state  or  national  reports,  because  they  tell 
what  may  be  done  by  showing  what  is  "being  done  by  indi- 
vidual industry,  instead  of  trying  to  deduce  from  the  aggre- 
gate estimates  in  elaborate  national  or  state  reports  what 
proportion  of  the  income  of  all  the  states  is  derived  from 
their  fisheries ;  whereas  these  are  confined  to  a  small  portion 
of  our  borders,  and  comparatively  few  men  and  small  means 
are  employed  in  them. 

HADDOCKS. 

The  sale  oC'Jinnan  kaddies"  per  diem  for  six  months  of  the  year  la 

New  York  averages  1000  lbs,,  at  10  cents ' |ioo  00 

Uoston,  2000  lbs '  "'     20O  00 

Portland,  1500  lbs iii."-!-!...!!!!!.!!!!!!!.."!!!!!  150  00 

,n.                    .      .  $450  OU 

Ihus  amountmg  m  six  months  for  those  three  cities  to $81,900  00 

It  is  Stated  by  competent  authority  that  3000  lbs.  of ''Jin- 
nan  hadcUes'"  per  day  for  six  months  in  the  year  are  cured  hi 
Portland,  Maine,  and  that  more  than  half  of  them  are  sold  in 
the  Dominion  of  Canada.  It  is  becoming  so  large  an  indus- 
try in  the  United  States  that  a  brief  account  of  its  origin  may 
prove  interesting. 

FINDON   HADDOCKS. 

The  luxury  known  as  "  finnan  baddies"  was  first  cured  at 
Findon,  near  Aberdeen,  in  Scotland.     I  can  not  iGarn  when 


Yankee  Invention  of  Dey-feeezino. 


343 


the  industry  was  begun,  but  am  informed  tliat  it  was  such  a 
favorite  dish  with  George  IV.  that  it  was  constantly  on  his 
breakfast-table  during  the  winter. 

The  curing  of  haddocks  by  moderately  salting  them  and 
then  smoking  them  over  a  smudge  made  of  smothered  peat 
was  an  invention  of  some  pretty  Scotch  woman  with— like 
most  of  her  countrymen  of  both  sexes— more  brains  and  loy- 
alty than  money.  She  was,  withal,  a  woman  with  an  excel- 
lent goUt,  as  her  invention  proved ;  for  she  had  not  followed 
the  business  long  before  many  persons  usurped  her  invention, 
and,  instead  of  smoking  them  over  the  pure  peat-reek  fires, 
they  used  green  wood  of  any  kind- that  would  make  a  smoke. 
Thus  the  Findon  haddocks  lost  favor  in  some  quarters ;  yet, 
l)Oor  as  it  was  made  by  bad  smoking,  there  was  still  left  a  de- 
gree of  delicacy,  and  the  flavor  was  still  so  much  admired  as 
to  divide  the  interest  with  the  Yarmouth  bloater  as  a  break- 
fast-fish. Finally,  as  the  "  schoolmaster  abroad"  ascertained 
that  the  waters  on  our  Eastern  coast  teem  with  haddocks,  he 
intimated  their  value  as  a  breakfast  luxury,  when  several  mem- 
bers of  Brother  Jonathan's  family  were  not  long  in  seeing  the 
point  of  interest  in  the  question.  The  result  is  that,  within 
the  past  five  years,  no  industry  has  grown  faster,  according  to 
its  pasture  of  short  capital,  than  has  the  manufacture  and 
trade  in  Findon  haddocks,  the  annual  amount  of  which  in  the 
United  States  is  not  much  short  of  half  a  million  of  dollars. 


PRESERVING  FOOD-FISHES   FRESH. 

The  Yankee  invention  for  refrigerating  salmon  in  an  at- 
mosphere of  such  a  degree  of  cold  as  is  desired,  and  from 
which  all  dampness  is  ejfcluded,  has  greatly  increased  the 
amount  of  consumption  of  fresh  salmon  in  the  border  cities 
of  the  United  States  within  the  past  thiee  years.  Already 
the  Canadians  are  profiting  by  an  invention  which  their  prox- 
imity to  salmon-waters  renders  of  iminense  utility  to  them. 
This  invention  requires  to  be  used  when  the  fiah  are  entirely 
fresh,  and  have  not  been  much  handled.    It  consists  simplv 


344 


FisiiiNG  IN  Ameijican  Waters. 


in  placing  the  fish  in  the  dry  retrigerutor  the  day  that  they 
are  caught,  and  the  sooner  after  they  leave  the  aqueous  ele- 
ment the  better.  Already  the  refrigoi:ating  process  is  in  o])- 
eration  on  railroads  for  the  transmission  of  meats,  fish,  and 
fruits. 

Of  numerous  other  fishes  than  the  salmon  which  are  sold 
in  a  fresh  condition,  no  reliable  estimate  can  be  made.  They 
include  thousands  of  tons  of  striped  bass,  cero,  bonita,  Span- 
ish mackerel,  sea  bass,  blackfish,  squeteague,  sheepshead,  eels, 
flounders,  flukes,  crabs,  lobsters,  and  several  other  kinds  of 
coast  and  estuary  fishes.  It  is,  however,  safe  to  state  that 
they  include  more  than  half  the  number  of  pounds  offish  con- 
sumed by  the  inhabitants  of  the  states  on  the  Atlantic  border, 
and  amounting  annually  to  a  value  of  many  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Throughout  winter  the  netting  of  striped  bass  is  pur- 
sued along  the  shores  of  bays,  sounds,  and  as  far  up  the  Hud- 
son River  as  Peekskill,  taking  them  at  the  latter  place  from 
under  the  ice.     This  practice  should  be  inhibited  by  law. 

Those  who  feel  interested  in  the  commerce  of  fishes  will 
please  excuse  me  for  not  condensing  the  statements  by  reca- 
pitulation. The  few  examples  which  I  have  submitted  of  the 
industry  have  been  those  of  individual  enterprise  in  a  busi- 
ness which  is  destined  soon  to  become  one  among  the  leadino- 
industries  of  the  nation. 


JPart    Ionxi\). 


ANCIENT  AND  MODEEN  FISII-CULTUER 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  ART  AMONG  THE  ANCIENTS. 

MONG  the  many  arts 
founded  on  pure  phi- 
losophy peculiar  to 
China,  we  find  that 
of  propagating  fishes 
by  artificial  means  to 
have  been  practiced 
there  for  many  cen- 
turies, as  is  proven 
by  their  works,  and 
the  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  art  pos- 
•  sessed  by  so  many 
of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Celestial  Empire.  • 

Father  Duhalde,  one  of  the  earliest  missionaries  from 
France  to  China,  was  the  first  to  reveal  to  the  Christian 
world  that  the  inhabitants  of  China  might  teach  those  of 
Europe  the  art  of  water  -  farming.  "In  the  great  River 
Yang  -  tse  -  kiang,"  said  Father  Duhalde,  "  not  far  from  the 
city  Kieou-king-fou,  of  the  province  Kiang-si,  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year  there  assemble  great  numbers  of  vessels  for 
conveying  away  the  fecundated  eggs  of  fishes.  Throughout 
the  month  of  May  the  river  is  barred  at  short  intervals  for 
sixty  miles  with  interlacings  of  osier  and  bulrushes,  leaving 
barely  suflicient  space  for  the  passage  of  barks  or  double 
chaloupes^  with  lateen  sails,  which  are  engaged  in  transport- 
ing ova."  The  reticulated  weirs  of  osier  and  bulrushes  are 
close  enouffh  to  catch  and  retain  the  ova,  and  the  vendor 


348 


FtsuiNG  m  Amekican  Watehs. 


knows  how  to  distrnguish  them  with  the  naked  eye  when  un- 
1  iact.eed  ones  pei-ceive  nothu,g  in  the  water.     He  therefore 
J.P8  up  the  water  with  a  mixture  of  impregnated  ova  "hM 
many  purchase  in  that  condition,  while  he  lips  and  Ms Tal 
for  others  who  purchase  the  fishes  when  first  hatched     P„ 
pie  are  said  to  come  from  all  parts  of  the  empire  for  the 

Great  care  is  bestowed  on  the  vivified  ec^gs  placed  in  tl„ 
vases,  and  those  having  them  in  charge  takftu,™  n  aUend 

ng  to  «.em  so  that  they  are  never  neglected  eithe;  n  gMo; 

ay     At  the  end  of  some  days,  as  the  eggs  disclose  life  the 
different  species  are  removed  into  sepaiSe  vases,  and  thd 
prices  fixed  and  published.    Father  Duhalde  stated" 
"ott  gam  was  often  a  hundred  fold  on  the  expense  and   he 

"dTfrsr  ^^ '''- — ^ '-«-"-" 

ot  the  Chinese  m  propagating  fishes,  but  their  explanations 
were  always  more  or  less  vague.    Father  Hue,  the  mTs  ioa 
my,  .nfoi-med  the  French  government  that  a  great  many  mer- 
chants of  vivified  fish-eggs  came  to  the  province  of  cLTou 
and  traversed  the  country  for  the  sale  of  them  to  the  propri! 
etors  of  ponds  and  other  preserved  waters.     Their  merchan- 
dise, being  a  sort  of  yellowish  Mquid,  was  contained  in  a  cask 
t  appeared  to  be  oily  water,  similar  to  the  color  of  the  vase 
(probably  tcrra-cotta),  in  which  it  was  impossible  to  distin- 
««.sh  with  the  naked  eye  the  least  animaleula  or  living  thin" 
Kor  some  mfip,e^n,M  coin-they  purchase  a  oup  of  that 
u^id  water,  which  is  sufBcient  to  stoek-a  pond  of  Lnsider- 
•ible  size.    They  pour  the  contents  of  the  cup  into  the  pond 
or  lake,  and  in  a  few  days  the  eggs  hatch,  and  by  having 
their  preserves  properly  divided  they  keep  up  their  stock  of 
fish.     For  the  young  fishes  of  the  herbivorous  families,  snch 
as  the  carp,  etc.,  they  throw  into  the  pond  tender  herbs  for 
food,  augmentmg  the  quantity  as  the  fish  enlarge.     Carnivor 


r.mrmx!miwsmim;pm 


Growth  of  Heebivorous  Fishes. 


349 


ous  fishes  require  some  kind  of  meat,  or  a  mixture  in  which 
meat  or  offal  forms  a  part. 

The  fishes  are  fed  in  the  morning  and  evening  of  each  day, 
and,  as  they  grow  very  fast,  it  becomes  quite  "  a  chore"  for 
the  boys  and  girls  to  gather  them  enough  herbage,  for  they 
are  so  ravenous  as  to  be  approjiriately  compared  to  the  silk- 
worms when  forming  cocoons.  Witli  generous  feeding  they 
attain  to  the  weight  of  two  or  three  pounds  in  fifteen  days, 
when  they  cease  growing,  and  are  sold  alive  throughout  the 
great  centres  of  population. 

The  fish-culturists  of  Kiang-si  raise  uniquely  fishes  of  a 
goUt  most  exquisite.  The  sea-rabbit  is  the  name  given  by 
them  to  a  species  at  once  the  most  delicate  and  prolific. 

Fish-culture,  or  piscicidture,  seems  natural  to  the  Chinese, 
who  conduct  the  industry  skillfully  and  successfully,  culti- 
vating numerous  species  of  herbivorous  fishes,  which  they 
raise  with  great  facilitj^  Herbivorous  fishes  acclimatize 
much  easier  than  the  carnivorous.  The  French  and  other 
Europeans  have  commenced  to  import  herbivorous  fishes  from 
Kiang-si ;  the  red  and  gold  fishes,  originally  imported  from 
China,  may  be  considered  a  luxury  to  the  eye,  and  their  sur- 
prisingly rapid  increase  in  numbers  without  expense  has  in- 
duced the  French  to  import  such  food-fishes  as  are  prolific 
and  of  excellent  flavor.  The  fresh-water  fishes  of  commerce 
in  China  form  much  lighter  and  more  digestible  food  than 
any  fresh-water  fishes  of  either  Europe  or  America.  They 
have  cultivated  their  waters,  and  raised  fishes  for  so  many 
hundred  years,  and  perhaps  thousands,  that  their  system  is 
said  to  be  much  more  perfect  than  any  now  practiced  in  Eu- 
rope or  America ;  and  as  France  has  sent  an  agent  to  China 
to  study  up  the  subject  from  an  Oriental  point  of  view,  it 
might  be  advisable  for  our  government  to  instruct  its  embas- 
sadors to  make  all  the  discoveries  possible,  and  report  tliera 
for  the  benefit  of  fish-culture  in  the  United  States. 


350 


Fishing  in  American  Wateks. 


i   ; 


CHAPTER  II. 

FISII-CULTURE  IN  E,  ROPE  IN  EARLY  TIMES. 
The  date  when  fish-culture  was  commenced  in  Europe  is 
not  definitely  known.  Its  introduction  there  is  generally  at" 
tnbuted  to  the  Romans,  among  whom,  it  is  stated  by  sell, 
writers  the  art  approached  a  remarkable  degree  of  perfec- 
tion It  IS  known  to  the  student  of  antique  inventions  that 
in  the  palmy  aays  of  ancient  Rome,  great  attention  was  paid' 

rr""l7'  i"''  '^  "^""  ^'  '''''''  «"^  ^--  *'-  -a'and 
the  Lay  of  Naples  to  the  ornamental  lakes  and  ponds  of  tlu- 

wealthy  patricians,  eminently  those  at  Tusculum,  and  at  oth- 
er vil  as  near  Ea.e,  the  fishes  of  tlie  sea  were  hivited  by  men 
of  taste  to  spawn  in  their  preserves,  which  they  did  in  great 
numbers,  as  is  related  by  J^u.al  in  respect  to  the  extensiv 
presein..s  of  Lucullus.     But  after  the  spawning  season  am 
when  the  spent  fishes  sought  a  return  to  the  sla,  they  Ce 
intercepted  by  wicker  weirs  or  wire  gates,  and  theie  cap- 
tured and  sold  111  the  market !    This  last  fixct  is  sufficient  ev- 
idence to  prove  to  the  modern  angler  or  fish-culturist  that 
the  Romans  knew  little  of  the  nature  and  habits  offish  or 

!onferod     """'  ^''''''  P"''^^''''^  '^''''^  ^^'^'  ^^'I"«'^  i«  unwhole- 
But  in  the  evidence  adduced  thus  lar  we  see  nothing,  to 
warrant  the  belidthat  the  ancient  Romans  hatched  fishes  bv 
the  modern  means  of  mingling  the  roe  and  mm  of  fishes  and 
placing  them  in  a  situation  to  be  hatched.    They  did  no  moiv 
than  invite  or  conduct  fish  from  the  sea  to  fresh-water  feed- 
ing-grounds and  spawning -beds.     The  Chinese  had  done 
nriore,  for  they  divided  rivers  into  spawning-beds,  and  before 
the^ spawn  was  hatched  they  removed  it  to  hatchino-.yases 
Among  the  articles  exhumed  from  Pompeii  and  Ilercula- 


pi*'/"— V— "  - <r4. 


CoiUMENCEMENT   OF   OySTER-CULTUKIO. 


351 


neum,  stored  in  the  Treasury  at  Naples,  I  saw  a  glass  vase  of 
fish-eggs  similar  to  those  of  the  genus  JSalmo.  Those  eggs 
and  their  mode  of  preservation  induced  me  to  believe  that  a 
higher  class  of  men  inhabited  Italy  seventeen  hundred  years 
ago  than  do  now  in  this  iron  age  of  intelligence.  Is  it  not 
true  that  aggregations  of  high  intellects— like  celestial  nebu- 
laB,  or  the  focal  coruscation  of  rays  of  light  and  heat — cluster 
at  different  times  on  different  parts  of  the  earth,  to  reflect  in- 
tellectual light  to  guide  coming  generations  ? 

Well,  it  is  stated  that  the  inventions  in  ancient  Rome,  first 
devised  .  pamper  the  children  of  luxury,  afterward  wen; 
employed  to  supply  subsistence  to  the  nation.  Des  viviern 
having  stocked  their  preserves  with  many  ornamental  fishes, 
whose  graceful  gambols,  beautiful  forms,  and  colors  chatoy- 
antes  had  delighted  the  ladies  of  that  interesting  period,  did 
not  disdain  to  encourage  the  increase  of  food-fishes  also,  with 
which  their  preserves  were  richly  stocked. 

But,  if  the  Romans  did  not  hatch  fishes  artificially,  that 
they  excelled  in  the  cultivation  of  Crustacea  can  not  be  suc- 
cessfully refuted.  The  removal  of  oysters  from  one  water 
and  planting  them  in  another  was  begun  by  Sergius  Grata  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era,  by  bringing  them 
from  Brindisium  and  planting  them  in  Lake  Lucrin,  which, 
according  to  the  evidence  of  the  gourmet  chief  Crassus, 
greatly  improved  their  flavo)-.  Grata  finally  covered  Lake 
Lucrin  with  reticulated  paraphernalia  made  of  wood,  raised 
at  one  end  on  stone  piers,  and  placed  in  numerous  positions 
for  the  convenience  of  the  deposit  of  oyster-spat.  The  Lake 
of  Fusaro  also,  between  the  ruins  of  CumoB  and  the  promon- 
tory of  Miscnum — "the  Avernus  of  the  ancients" — being  salt, 
was  planted  with  oysters;  and  the  plans  for  oyster  culture 
adopted  by  the  Romans  were  quite  similar  to  those  pursued 
in  France  at  present.  * 

My  investigations  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  fish-culture 
by  the  method  of  stripping  the  ova  from  the  female  and  the 
milt  from  the  male  fish,  and  mixing  them  for  vivifieation,  in- 


352 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


tlucos  mc  to  impate  its  orit^iii  to  the  monks — tlioso  men  of 
s^cnius  who  invented  eau  da  vie — and  who  were  ever  engaged 
in  investigations  for  ameliorating  the  wants  of  mankind. 
They  found  the  waters  idle,  while  the  needs  of  the  Church 
demanded  that  they  should  produce.  They  therefore  ap- 
l)lied  themselves  to  the  study  of  cultivating  the  waters,  and 
in  the  fourteenth  century  —  according  to  Jiaron  Montgau- 
dry,  nej)hew  to  Button — Dom  Phichiou.,  abbe  of  Jieotne,  had 
<liscovered  the  plan  of  hatching  ilshes  in  boxes,  the  process 
described  being  quite  similar  to  that  now  employed.  The 
needs  of  the  monastic  orders  for  complying  with  the  require- 
ments imposed  by  their  religion  may  be  justly  considered  the 
motive  cause  which  urged  to  this  great  discovery ;  and  the 
monks  not  only  cultivated  the  waters,  but  they  left  records 
of  their  progress,  and  gave  us  their  opinion  that  the  carp  is 
ihe  most  profitable  fish  to  propagate,  and  next  in  order  is 
the  tench.  The  pike  is  considered  very  useful  to  prevent 
the  excessive  multiplication  of  carps,  for  otherwise  they  soon, 
become  too  nimicrous  for  their  healthy  condition  in  a  pond. 

At  divers  epochs  the  idea  prevailed  of  introducing  certain 
fishes  into  barren  waters.  The  Lake  Lovitel,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  U'lsere,  never  nourished  a  fish  before  IGTO,  when  M. 
(rarden  placed  trout  in  the  lake,  and  they  multiplied  so  that 
the  lake  has  remained  stocked  with  them  ever  since. 

La  pecherie  of  Comachio,  on  the  Adriatic,  is  of  very  ancient 
origin.  Bonaveri,  and,  more  recently,  Spallanzani,  professor 
in  Reggio,  Modena,  and  Pavia,  have  described  the  very  exten- 
sive eel-fisheries  there.  In  spring,  when  the  eels  ascend  the 
rivers,  the  fish-farmers  open  communications  from  the  basins 
to  the  lagunes  of  the  sea,  and  the  young  eels  penetrate  in 
great  masses  through  all  the  free  passes.  Retained  in  the 
basins,  where  they  find  nourishment  abundant,  they  grow 
rapidly.  At  the  time  when  their  instinct  teaches  them  to 
descend  to  the  sea,  the  fish-farmers  lead  thein  by  small  artifi- 
cial brooks  Avhereby  they  are  conducted  into  chambers  from 
which  they  have  no  power  to  escape,  and  hundreds  of  thou- 


Cultivate  Eels  and  Fkoqs. 


353 


sands  of  cols  arc  thus  annually  gathered  and  cured  for  mar- 
ket, because  tlierc  is  a  greater  number  of  fresh  eels  than  is 
necessary  to  supply  the  markets  of  Italy. 

At  tlie  commencement  of  the  decade  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury  the  brilliant  discoveries  of  Spallanzani  enriched  tlie  nat- 
ural sciences,  and  proved  beyond  reasonable  doubt  the  i)0S8i- 
bility  of  developing  the  mysteries  which  tlieorists  had  from 
time  to  time  mooted,  of  impregnating  tlie  eggs  of  fishes  arti- 
ficially. He  therefore  took  eggs  of  a  frog,  and  impregnated 
them  with  the  semen  of  a  male  frog.  This  he  did  before  nu- 
merous witnesses,  who  saw  the  live  frogs,  and  saw  that  from 
these  eggs  young  frogs  were  hatched,  and  the  triumph  of  the 
illustrious  Italian  naturalist  was  thus  rendered  complete. 

In  17G3  Lieut.  Jacobi  announced  through  a  journal  of  Han- 
over the  feasi])ility  of  the  artificial  fecundation  of  salmon 
and  trout.  Before,  however,  publishing  his  successful  exper- 
iments, he  f'ndeavored  to  promulgate  his  discovery  through 
the  medium  of  celebrated  naturalists,  such  as  Buffon,De  Four- 
croy,  and  Gleditch,  an  eminent  professor  of  Germany.  "Les 
savr  Its"  of  France  appeared  too  much  jccupied  to  notice 
the  Hanoverian  lieutenant,  especially  as  his  writings  were  in 
German.  Gleditch,  who  was  not  influenced  by  the  same  rea- 
sons, appeared  impressed  with  the  work  of  Jacobi,  and  he  com- 
municated extracts  from  the  work  to  the  Academy  of  Berlin 
thi-ough  Baron  Von  Ilarbke. 

In  France  the  experiences  relative  to  the  artificial  fecunda- 
tion of  fishes  occurred  some  years  later.  The  work  of  Jacobi 
was  published  in  Paris  in  17V0.  The  Marquis  de  Pezay,'m 
his  Soirees  helvetiennes^  signalized  the  fortunate  results  ob- 
tained at  Noterlem,  including  the  information  that  England 
wished  to  recompense  Jacobi  by  a  liberal  pension. 

Two  years  thereafter,  and  twelve  years  after  the  successful 
experiments  of  Jacobi,  Adamson,  in  his  course  at  the  Jardin 
du  Jioi  in  1112,  made  known  to  his  auditors  the  plan  and 
practicability  of  artificial  fecundation,  stating  that  it  was  ha- 
bitually practiced  on  the  borders  of  the  Weser,  in  Switzer- 


354 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


land,  in  the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  and  in  the  mountains  and 
elevated  parts  of  Germany.  For  this  object,  he  said,  they 
take  by  the  head  a  female  salmon  in  November  or  December, 
or  a  trout  in  December  or  January,  the  times  when  these 
hshes  deposit  their  ova.  These  fish  are  held  over  a  vase  with 
a  quart  of  water  in  it,  and  by  a  light  pressure  on  the  abdo- 
men downward,  the  female  vents  the  roe.  They  then  take  a 
male  salmon,  and  rub  his  belly  down  with  the  palm  of  the 
hand  in  the  same  manner:  milt  falls  on  the  roe  and  mixes 
with  it,  when  it  is  placed  in  a  running  stream  and  covered 
lightly  with  gravel,  and  after  several  mouths  the  fish  hatch. 

The  Course  of  Natural  History,  by  Adamson,  was  repub- 
lished in  Paris  in  1845,  when  its  information  on  fish-culture 
first  attracted  attention  to  the  truths  published  by  him  sev- 
enty years  previously. 

The  copy  ot  the  manuscript  of  Jacobi  was  sent  to  France  by 
German  officials,  and  thus  became  finally  translated.  Those 
who  are  educated  to  be  courtiers  or  politicians  do  not  always 
read.  Apropos  of  this  truth:  the  artificial  fecundation  of 
roe  by  Jacobi,  imparted  through  his  intermediaires,  the  Count 
de  Golds^  -'"i  and  the  naturalist  Gleditch,  became  neglected 
and  forgotten.  During  sixty  years  no  one  dreamed  of  read- 
ing the  "'Traits  des  pSehes  de  Duhamel,''  the  veritable  work 
of  Jacobi.  The  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  did  not  retain 
a  souvenir  of  the  success  obtained  at  Noterlem  for  the  artifi- 
cial multiplication  "  des  Truites  et  des  SaumonsP 

If  the  Chevalier  Bufalina,  of  Cesena,  had  succeeded  in  fe- 
cundating several  fishes,  no  one  saw  any  novel  feature  in  the 
operation  not  developed  by  Spallanzani;  and  if  Jacobi  had 
invented  a  successful  plan  of  artificial  fish-culture  in  Germany, 
and  if,  in  the  region  of  the  Rhine  and  in  Switzerland,  where 
fishermen -were  successfully  practicing  fish-culture  and  enrich- 
ing their  streams  by  it,  yet  the  world  was  as  ignorant  of  its 
true  bearings  upon  the  needs  and  prosperity  of  a  country  as 
if  nothing  had  ever  been  said  or  written  upon  the  subject ; 
so  the  progress  may  thus  far  be  counted  as  nil. 


EXPEEIMENTS  IN  FiSU-CULTUKE. 


355 


CHAPTER  III. 
FISH-CULTURE  OF  THIS  CENTURY. 

o  D  E  R  N  fish  -  culture  is 
indebted  to  only  thir- 
ty years'  practice  for 
all  the  wonders  it  has 
achieved.     The  early 
part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury was  unfavorable 
^^^  to  the  development  of 
industry.    War  en- 
gaged the  attention  of 
the  civilized  world. 
Many  improvements 
known  in  France,  Ita- 
ly, Germany,  and  En- 
gland ai  the  commencement  of  their  revolutions,  were  lost 
to  this  century ;  but  the  calm  which  peace  restored  fructified 
genius  and  utilized  its  discoveries. 

In  1820,  MM.  Hivort  and  Pilachon,  two  inhabitants  of  the 
Baute-llarne,  fecundated  eggs  of  trout.  After  hatehing,  they 
took, the  ''alevins"  (the  young,  before  the  umbilical  sac  is  ab- 
sorbed) to  the  waters  which  they  desired  to  stock.  These 
facts,  though  confirmed  by  M.  de  Montgaudry  and  M.  Jour- 
dier,  did  not  electrify  the  public  mind,  or  even  cause  a  single 
government  to  put  forth  an  effort  for  restocking  depleted 
waters  to  cheapen  food.  So  the  matter  lay  dormant  again 
seventeen  years,  when  John  Shaw,  of  Scotland,  fecundated  the 
eggs  of  a  salmon,  and  hatched  them  by  artificial  means,  which 
resulted  in  a  memoir  of  his  experiments  r  lative  to  the  prop- 
agation of  salmon.     Jiut  this,  instead  of  causing  efforts  to  be- 


I 


856 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


■  I 


come  more  numerous  and  of  wider  scope,  was  merged  in  the 
side  issue  of  the  "  parr  question,"  which  absorbed  attention, 
as  indicated  by  an  important  article  in  Blackwood  of  that 
year  upon  the  "  Transmutations  of  the  Sahnon."  \ 

The  first  person  in  France  who  seriously  called  general  at- 
tention to  the  study  and  practice  of  artificially  stocking  the 
waters  was  Baron  de  Rivihre.  He  urged  the  peculiar  advan- 
tages obtained  by  leading  the  young  eels  from  estuaries  up 
artificial  streams,  and  capturing  them,  to  distribute  in  con- 
venient proportions  throu'^hout  the  waters  of  France. 

In  the  history  of  modern  pisciculture  a  little  event  occurred 
without  noise  in  1844,  in  the  Department  of  the  Vosges,  which 
gave  rise  a  few  years  later  to  much  excitement. 

A  fisherman  oi  La  Bresse^'va.  the  commune  of  Remiremont, 
situated  in  one  of  the  most  elevated  parts  of  the  canton  of 
Saulxures — Joseph  Remy  by  name — having  seen  the  trout, 
at  other  times  numerous  in  the  streams  of  the  mountains,  di- 
minishing so  fast  as  to  produce  grave  prejudice  to  his  indus- 
try, the  rivers  and  the  brooks  in  the  Vosges  having  been 
dried  up  by  a  long  drought  in  1842,  sought  from  Nature  a 
remedy.  This  humble  man,  endowed  with  a  spirit  of  obser- 
vation, studied  with  intelligence  the  habits  of  the  trout  from 
the  moment  of  hatching,  until  he  arrived  at  the  idea  of  artifi- 
cial fecundation,  and,  by  numerous  experiments,  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  arranging  the  hatching  apparatus  into  compart- 
ments, as  it  is  done  at  this  day,  though  commencing,  like 
Jacobi,  by  placing  the  fecundated  ova  in  a  trough, -with 
wire-grating  cover  and  ends  in  the  trout-stream,  letting  the 
natural  running  of  the  stream  hatch  the  eggs,  which  were 
slightly  covered  with  gravel  in  the  trough. 

Remy,  chagrined  at  not  knowing  any  person  with  means 
from  whom  he  might  hope  for  assistance  by  communicating 
his  discoveries,  became  melancholy  and  fell  sick,  when  he 
confided  his  secret  to  the  keeper  of  the  little  tavern  where 
he  boarded,  by  name  Antoine  Gehin.  This  inn-keeper  was 
to  him  a  coUaborateur,  and  soon  became  full  of  zeal  both  as 


|jsa_ 


Reasons  foe  Water-fabming. 


357 


a  fisherman  and  pisciculturist.  The  names  of  liemy  and  Ge- 
hin  were  destined  to  become  indissoluble.  They  unveiled 
the  advantages  of  the  discovery  to  a  few  notable  persons ; 
but  our  two  poor  copartners  met  with  the  difficulties  com- 
mon to  those  who  discover  any  strange  improvement  by 
means  of  a  switch  from  tlie  track  of  Nature.  In  the  mean 
time  the  inspector  of  primary  schools  in  the  Vosges  received 
information  of  the  discovery,  and  communicated  it  to  the 
Society  of  Emulation.  This  society,  being  of  high  celebrity, 
occupied  itself  at  once  upon  the  question.  In  u  report  by 
M.  Sarrazin  on  the  recompenses  accorded  to  agriculture  and 
industry  by  the  Society  of  Emulation,  the  proceedings  of 
Bemtj  and  Gehin  were  described.  M.  Micard,  General  Guard 
of  the  Forests,  had  favored  the  early  efforts  of  JRemy,  and 
gave  him  in  spawning-time  the  liberty  of  the  brooks  of  the 
forests. 

In  spite  of  the  memoir  of  John  ^h2iW—malgr&  the  results 
which  were  vauntingly  promised  to  England— ma^^re  the 
fortunate  experiments  of  Eemy  and  Gehin,  encouraged  by 
the  Society  of  Emulation  for  the  Vosges,  all  slept  again. 

The  interest  in  the  success  of  those  men,  whose  ardor  and 
industry  greatly  multiplied  the  number  of  fishes,  lasted  no 
longer  than  the  transient  sound  of  the  murmurs  of  the  rivers 
and  brooks  which  had  proved  the  theatre  of  their  exploits. 

But  on  the  23d  of  October,  1848,  M.  cle  Quatrefages,  in  pur- 
suit of  the  development  of  certain  animals,  fished  up  the  com- 
munication of  Count  Goldstein,  and  read  at  the  Academic  des 
Sciences  a  memoir  demonstrative  of  artificial  fecundation  be- 
ing the  means  for  obviating  the  causes  of  destri^ction  to  the 
eggs  of  fishes. 

The  lecture  of  M.  de  Quatrefages  at  the  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences was  published  by  numerous  journals,  which  projected 
the  subject  into  the  air  of  public  favor,  and  the  assurance  of 
the  lecturer  that  a  pursuit  of  the  subject  would  be  the  birth 
of  a  new  industry  important  to  the  world,  decided  the  com= 
mencement  of  action.     All  the  world  was  at  once  going  into 


^f| 


358 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


the  artificial  fecundation  project,  aiid  founded  the  most  bril- 
liant hopes  of  the  new  art  oi pisciculture. 

The  information  of  Quatrefages'  lecture  reached  Epinal, 
and  was  seen  by  the  Society  of  Emulation  in  the  Vosges 
about  four  months  after  it  was  delivered.  On  the  2d  of 
March,  1849,  the  secretary  of  the  society  wrote  to  31.  de  Qua- 
trefages that  two  fishermen  of  Za  Hresse  had  been  engaged 
since  1844  at  stocking  the  waters  of  the  Vosges  with  trout 
produced  by  artificial  fecundation. 

All  at  once,  loud  became  the  acclamation  in  favor  of  Remy 
and  Gehin,  as  if  the  echo  had  gained  strength  by  the  years 
in  which  the  truth  had  lain  dormant.  Next  an  English  en- 
gineer, M.  Gottleib  Boccius,  announced  the  great  advantage 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  Vosges  had  derived  from  re- 
peopling  their  rivers  by  the  aid  of  artificial  fecundation,  and 
hatching  fishes  in  boxes  where  they  were  secure  from  nu- 
merous enemies  of  both  water  and  air.  He  had  published  a 
small  treatise  in  1841  with  the  object  of  benefiting  landed 
proprietors  in  stocking  their  waters,  and  more  especially  their 
artificial  fish-ponds.  But  the  French  philosophers  regarded 
the  discovery  in  a  national  aspect.  Hence  one  of  the  savants 
most  illustrious,  JI.  Dumas,  who  was  minister  of  Agriculture 
and  Commerce,  charged  the  most  authoritative  naturalist,  M. 
Milne  Edwards,  to  examine  and  give  an  opinion  upon  the  di- 
vers essays  published  in  England,  Germany,  and  France  upon 
the  subject  of  stocking  fluvial  waters  with  fish. 

On  the  26th  of  August,  1850,  M.  Milne  Edwards  addressed 
a  report  to  the  minister,  in  which  he  reviewed  the  work  of 
.Tacobi,  and  noticed  the  success  of  Hemy  and  Gehin  with 
marked  commendation  for  their  perseverance  in  perfecting 
fish-culture,  whereby  they  had  restocked  the  streams  of  the 
canton,  besides  having  discovered  a  new  industry  for  France. 
He  also  named  a  dozen  important  rivers  and  lakes  which 
they  had  restocked  with  trout,  concluding  with  impressively 
recommending  them  to  government  favor.  He  said  they  had 
done  more  than  to  stock  the  waters  Math  trout,  for  they  had 


French  Fisheries'  Commissioners. 


350 


stocked  them  Avith  fiogs  also,  because  the  spawn  of  these 
time-beaters  is  an  aliment  which  the  young  trout  search  with 
avidity ;  and  the  tadpole  furnishes  an  excellent  pasture  for 
trout  more  advanced  in  age. 

For  fifteen  years  Gehin  had  been  working  under  the  full 
knowledge  of  what  now  engaged  the  sages  of  political  econ- 
omy. The  subject  enlarged,  as  they  thought  of  stocking  the 
waters  of  France  with  all  the  choice  fishes  of  the  world ;  and, 
conformably  with  the  view  explained  by  M.  Milne  Edwards, 
a  commission  was  named  by  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce,  dated  September  28,  1850.  The  commission  in- 
cluded MM.  Milne  Edwards,  Valenciennes,  members  of  the  In- 
stitute ;  Susanne,  Inspector  of  Forests ;  de  Bon,  Commission- 
er of  Marine ;  de  Franqueville,  Chief  of  Navigation  and  of 
the  Ports,  and  Minister  of  Public  Works ;  Monny  de  Mornay, 
Chief  of  the  Division  of  Agriculture,  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  and  Commerce ;  Coste,  Professor  of  Embryogo- 
ny  at  the  College  of  France ;  Doyere,  Professor  of  Zoology 
at  the  National  Agronomique  Institute. 

The  decree  was  signed  by  Dumas,  and  in  the  spring  of  1851, 
M.  Valenciennes — the  ichthyologist — received  a  mission  from 
the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  to  visit  and  pro- 
cure the  large  fishes  of  the  rivers  in  Germany  wherewith  to 
stock  the  lakes  and  ponds  of  France.  He  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining several  species,  of  which  he  conveyed  to  Paris  the 
living  individuals,  including  sa?idre,  genus  Zucioperca,  Lin., 
the  sihire,  one  of  the  most  voracious  fishes  in  creation,  the  av- 
erage size  of  which  is  large  enough  to  dine  eighteen  persons. 

The  silures  (silurus  glanis),  with  the  sandres  and  a  dozen 
lotes  (eel-pouts),  were  placed  in  the  reservoirs  at  Marly.  The 
selection  of  fishes  speaks  unfavorably  for  the  taste  ofM  Va- 
lenciennes. The  sandre  grows  large  enough  to  dine  eight  per- 
sons, but  is  a  dry  fish ;  the  eel-pouts  are  detestable,  and  dis- 
gusting to  behold ;  the  glanis  is  similar  to  a  Missouri  River 
catfish  !  Of  this  selection  wherewith  to  stock  the  fresh  wa- 
ters of  France,  not  one  lived  to  leave  any  posterity. 


360 


Fishing  in  American  Watees. 


M.  Coste  then  advised  that  the  numerous  ponds  of  Ver- 
sailles be  employed  as  "  stables"  wherein  to  propagate  fishes 
for  the  waters  of  France,  believing  that  in  those  spacious  ba- 
sins fishes  which  inhabit  alternately  the  fresh  and  salt  waters, 
such  as  the  salmon,  shad,  lamprey,  and  plaice,  might  be  culti- 
vated. The  advice  was  followed  with  unsuccessful  result. 
In  the  mean  time,  two  engineers  of  bridges,  3I3f.  Uetzetn  and 
Hertoly  made  large  profits  by  peopling  the  Canal  du  Hhdne. 
They  had  been  invited  by  the  prefet  of  Doubs  to  verify  the 
method  in  use  in  the  Vosges,  Avhen,  with  assistants,  they 
hatched  in  four  months  3,382,000  eggs  of  salmon,  trout,  perch, 
pike,  etc.  On  May  7th,  1 851,  they  placed  in  basins  confided 
to  their  care  1,583,111  fishes  recently  hatched. 

The  facility  for  hatching  fishes  by  millions  induced  them  to 
calculate  how  many  fishes  might  live  in  the  fresh  waters  of 
France.  Estimating  the  actual  population  to  be  twenty-five 
millions  of  fishes,  they  concluded  that  by  four  years'  artificial 
hatching  the  number  would  be  increased  to  three  billions, 
one  hundred  and  seventy  millions,  and  yield  a  revenue  of 
more  than  nine  hundred  millions  francs. 

It  was  evident  that  they  had  consulted  but  one  side  of  the 
question,  and  that  the  least  diflicult.  Myriads  of  fishes  may 
easily  be  hatched,  but  the  questions  of  greater  import  are, 
how  are  they  to  be  protected,  subsisted,  and  made  to  grow  ? 
These  are  the  questions  which  most  seriously  address  them- 
selves to  the  student  of  modern  fish-culture.  The  brains  of 
Bertol  and  Detzeni  were  made  dizzy  by  the  presence  of  a  cal- 
culation which  proved  millions  of  revenue  easily  obtained, 
and  they  exclaimed,  '*  Is  it  possible  to  endow  France  with 
such  a  revenue  ?"  On  the  examination  of  results  so  unexpect- 
ed, no  member  of  the  Fisheries'  Commission  evinced  a  senti- 
ment of  distrust,  stating  that  they  were  aware  the  calculation 
produces  the  same  impression  on  all  those  who  examine  the 
subject. 

Bertol  and  Detzem,  encouraged  by  the  Minister  of  Agricul- 
ture and  Commerce,  followed  their  work  with  sjreat  zeal,  and. 


Fish-food  for  Food-fishes. 


361 


established  at  Zoechlehmn^  near  Huningue,  continued  the  op- 
erations of  hatching  trout  and  salmon  on  an  extensive  scale. 
By  their  second  report  in  March,  1852,  they  announced  that 
since  the  November  preceding  722,600  eggs  had  yielded 
700,000  fishes. 

From  the  day  when  M.  De  Quatrefages  called  attention  to 
the  advantages  of  artificial  fecundation  for  repeopling  the 
waters  of  France,  M.  Coste  occupied  himself  incessantly  upon 
fish-culture.  He  explained  the  experiments  on  alimentation 
and  growth  of  young  eels,  which  ascend  the  streams  every 
spring.  These  fishes,  nourished  by  the  debris  of  the  butcher- 
shops  cemented  into  a  sort  of  pie,  are  fattened  and  made  to 
grow  very  fast,  attaining  to  the  ^^  eight  of  several  pounds  in 
a  single  season. 

In  1853,  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce,  for 
the  object  of  founding  an  establishment  of  fish-culture  at 
Huningue,  accorded  a  credit  of  30,000  francs.  This  credit, 
M.  Coste  stated,  "  is  to  be  used  in  undertaking  one  of  the 
most  grand  experiments  of  which  the  natural  sciences  have 
ever  given  an  example."  He  also  described  the  method  for 
preparing  the  food  for  young  salmon  and  trout  with  a  pie 
formed  of  butchers'  offal,  or  of  horse-flesh  boiled.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  advantage  of  this  feed  was  acquired  by  the  ex- 
periments of  Dr.  Lamy  at  the  artificial  hatchings  in  the  pare 
du  3Iaintenon. 

In  1856,  the  subject  of  fish-culture  engaged  more  or  less 
the  attention  of  a  majority  of  the  best  minds  in  France, 
whether  men  of  state  or  of  science,  or  men  of  wealth  and  en- 
terprise. Though  the  felicitations  and  encouragement  of  the 
fishermen  of  the  Yosges  had  not  been  cooled  or  diminished, 
yet  the  book-philosophers,  having  road  up,  became  aware  that 
hatching  fishes  by  ar^.  had  engaged  the  minds  of  sages  in  oth- 
er ages ;  and  as  that  was  the  most  simple  part  in  the  train  of 
successfully  restocking  waters,  they  were  studying  and  exper- 
imenting to  acquire  a  more  perfect  knov/ledge  of  the  nature, 
habits,  preferable  haunts,  and  means  of  subsistence.     M.  de 


m. 


\;tpw 


362 


Fishing  in  Al^.eioan  Waters. 


m 


Tocqueville  had  determined  that  a  strong  light  was  injuri- 
ous, and  that  a  lamp  or  candle  should  not  be  thrust  before 
young  fishes.  This  was  one  of  the  reasons  for  placing  the 
government  breeding  apparatus  at  Huningue  under  cover; 
another  was  to  maintain  in  the  hatching-troughs  nearly  an 
even  temperature  throughout  the  winter  while  hatchino' 
game  fishes  of  the  genus  Salmo^  that  spawn  late  in  autumn ; 
for  these,  while  young,  are  much  more  delicate  than  common 
fishes,  which  (spawning  in  spring)  hatch  in  a  few  days,  and 
require  comparatively  no  care  in  the  process  or  in  the  kinds 
of  feed ;  for,  as  they  come  into  the  world  without  a  sac  of  pro- 
vision to  last  them  a  month  suspended  to  the  umbilical  cord, 
nature  prepares  them  for  fighting  their  way  for  food  from  the 
moment  when  they  leave  the  shell. 

Gehin  had  visited  Paris  in  1850,  and  was  presented  to  Lou- 
is Napoleon,  then  president  of  the  republic,  as  quite  a  person- 
age, and  received  from  the  government,  in  compliance  with 
the  promise  of  M,  Milne  Edwards,  the  mission  to  stock  the 
rivers  of  several  departments. 

There  were  50,000  brook  and  lake  trout  introduced  to  the 
waters  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  in  1856,  where  they  grew 
rapidly.  At  this  time  many  of  the  public  waters  through- 
out France,  which  had  rested  dormant,  began  to  astonish 
and  delight  the  neighborhoods  with  the  leaps  above  water 
of  amber  beauties,  which  formed  miniature  rainbows  in  the 
gleams  of  the  sun,  and  many  peasants  regarded  this  novel 
gift  of  life  and  beauty  as  a  providential  blessing  on  Napo- 
leon's reign. 

Reports  of  successes  in  pisciculture  poured  in  monthly  more 
numerously  from  every  department.  The  waters  were  ev- 
ery where  stocked  with  young  fishes,  which  were  doing  well. 
The  ponds,  lakes,  and  reservoirs  in  public  parks  were  each 
annually  hatching  25,000  to  50,000  of  the  genus  Salmo  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public  rivers  of  France. 

In  the  departments  generally,  the  zeal  of  the  pr^fets  kept 
pace  with  that  of  the  government,  and  men  of  science  and 


Impoeting  Salmon  Ova. 


363 


the  Conseils  Gknkraux  voted  the  sums  to  successfully  operate 
the  enterprises. 

Thus  the  great  work  continued  to  proceed  with  unvary- 
ing success  until  1862,  when  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce  published  a  history  of  the  perfect  success  of  Hu- 
ningue,  which  includes  seventy  acres  laid  out  into  artificial 
creeks,  ponds,  and  hatching-houses.  The  statistics  in  this  his- 
tory were  furnished  by  M.  Courses,  Ingenieitr  en  chef  des  tra- 
vaux  die  Bhin,  to  whom  application  should  be  made  for  vivi- 
fied roe  wherewith  to  stock  waters  in  the  United  States.  By 
my  advice,  Seth  Green  made  such  order  in  the  autumn  of 
1865,  and  in  the  spring  of  1866  the  eggs  came  to  the  New 
York  Custom-house,  where  official  and  other  delays  detained 
them  until  they  died.  The  French  government  had  gener- 
ously presented  Mr.  Green  20,000  fecundated  salmon  ova,  so 
nearly  hatched  as  to  show  the  eyes  of  the  alevins,  carefully 
packed  them  in  moss,  and  shipped  them  gratuitously !  And 
then  to  know  that  our  government  was  so  callous  to  the  ma- 
terial interests  of  the  people  as  not  only  to  have  neglected  to 
make  any  eifort  toward  reducing  the  prices  of  food-fishes,  but 
to  have  actually  rendered  the  revenue  officers  a  barrier 
against  the  efforts  by  men  of  enterprise  who  would  embark 
their  own  money  in  it,  is  humiliating  ! 

I  humbly  ask.  Is  it  not  the  duty  of  Congress  to  authorize 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  appoint  a  commission  for  the 
improvement  of  the  fisheries  in  the  United  States  ?  Individ- 
ual states  can  not,  unaided  by  the  federal  government,  im- 
port either  ova  or  young  fishes  of  choice  quality  from  abroad. 
Without  the  seal  of  a  United  States  commissioner,  the  col- 
lectors of  revenue  have  no  discretion  but  to  destroy  the  im- 
portation by  delay,  exposure  to  heat  or  cold,  or  to  the  air. 
Any  authority  given  to  United  States  consuls  on  the  other 
hemisphere  woul '.  prove  ineffectual,  for  there  are  no  consuls 
near  the  great piscicultural  establishments ;  and,  in  fact,  since 
tlie  fiasco  of  the  Acclimatization  Society  in  the  preserves  of 
Mr,  Francis  Francis  at  Twickenham,  there  is  no  establishment 


,1 


364 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


of  fish-culture  left  in  Europe  which  supplies  fecundated  ova 
■  but  the  national  one  of  Huningue,  and  by  this  one  all  appli- 
cants are  served— by  order  of  the  French  government— free 
of  expense. 

.  The  liberality  of  France  in  bestowing  ova  and  young  fishes 
on  all  applicants  did  not  prevent  her  from  deriving  the  re- 
spectable revenue  in  1862  for  her  fresh-water  fisheries  of 
14,000,000.  In  1861  the  Huningue  establishment  distributed 
about  9,000,000  ova,  and  in  1862  about  12,000,000. 

The  paramount  reason  for  artificial  culture  is  based  on  the 
known  fact  that  of  every  thousand  salmon  or  trout  hatched 
in  a  stream  in  the  natural  way,  not  more  than  one  arrives  at 
marketable  size ;  and  as  a  salmon  yields  about  one  thousand 
ova  to  the  pound,  a  pair  of  salmon  would  scarcely  yield 
twenty-five  per  cent,  if  hatching  in  a  stream  where  the  eggs 
and  ale-ins  are  unprotected,  while  if  the  20,000  eggs  were 
hatched  artificially  and  the  young  salmon  protected,  the  in- 
crease to  marketable  size  would  generally  be  two  thousand 
per  cent. 

The  numerous  successes  resulting  from  artificial  propaga- 
tion, and  restocking  and  newly  stockmg  waters  in  France,  has 
had  a  favorable  influence  throughout  the  civilized  world,  so 
that  within  a  few  years  Belgium,  Holland,  Switzerland,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  and  Spain  have  establishments  offish-culture. 

On  the  British  Isles  great  results  have  been  accomplished 
near  Galway  and  on  the  River  Tay,  so  that  the  rentals  of 
some  fisheries  have  increased  fifty  per  cent.  Through  the 
enterprise  of  Mr.  Francis,  of  thei^^^W,  some  of  the  waters  of 
Australia  have  been  stocked  by  ova  transported  from  En- 
gland—fifteen thousand  miles!  He  has  also  succeeded  in 
stocking  a  river  in  New  Zealand  in  the  same  manner.  The 
River  Plenty,  first  stocked  in  Tasmania,  has  proved  a  success 
in  both  trout  and  salmon.    ' 

That  the  gigantic  rebellion  has  delayed  action  by  the 
United  States  government  is  quite  natural ;  but  one  of  the 
paramount  duties  of  government  is  to  increase  the  stock  of 


FlSH-CULTUBE  IN  AMERICA. 


365 


food-fishes  in  the  waters  throughout  the  Union.  Reports 
from  the  French  government  have  been  forwarded  to  the 
President,  and  by  him  they  have  been  laid  before  Congress, 
so  that  the  subject  will  doubtless  soon  be  acted  on  nationally. 

Through  the  efforts  of  individual  states,  much  has  been 
done  within  the  past  three  years.  Influenced  by  an  intelli- 
gent enterprise  for  which  the  states  of  New  England  are 
justly  celebrated,  each  of  those  states  has  appointed  a  Fisher- 
ies Commission,  and  the  following  extract  from  a  report  of 
progress  in  one  state  may  be  accepted  as  a  fair  sample  of  all : 

"  Of  the  40,000  spawn  recently  placed  for  incubation  in  the 
Cold  Spring  trout-ponds  at  Charleston,  New  Hampshire,  for 
the  Connecticut  River,  the  first  salmon  were  hatched  Decem- 
ber 11th,  1865.  The  eyes  of  the  embryo  salmon  were  first 
clearly  seen  in  the  egg  about  November  25th.  The  eggs 
were  taken  from  the  parent  salmon  on  the  Miramichi  Octo- 
ber 10th,  making  62  days  as  the  period  of  incubation.*  The 
first  trout  which  broke  shell  at  these  hatching-works  this 
season  came  out  on  November  9th,  35  days  from  the  time 
when  the  roe  and  milt  were  shed  by  the  parent  fishes." 

Fish-culture  is  a  success.  It  is  not  only  triumphant,  but  it 
is  almost  miraculous.  Waters  hitherto  worse  than  useless 
may  be  made  a  hundred  fold  as  profitable  as  any  equal  num- 
ber of  acres  of  land,  and  with  not  a  tithe  of  the  labor.  But 
these  truths,  so  palpably  patent  to  many  intellectual  minds 
of  the  present  day,  are  almost  a  sealed  book  to  the  mass  of 
the  rising  generation.  In  view,  therefore,  of  these  facts,  and 
the  depressing  truth  that  the  fishes  of  the  coast  and  inland 
waters  are  annually  decreasing,  while  by  immigration  and 
natural  causes  our  nation  is  increasing  in  population  faster 
than  any  other  on  the  globe,  is  it  not  advisable  to  make  the 
art  offish-culture  a  study  in  the  agricultural  colleges?. 
Up  to  the  present  time  the  inauguration  of  plans  for  pro-' 

*  Mr.  Francis  and  other  fish-cultnrists  are  not  in  favor  of  employing  water 
so  wiirm  as  to  hatch  in  .so  shuil  a  time,  believing  that  the  young  flsh  are  not 
8 )  hiirdy  as  those  hatched  in  colder  water. 


366 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


tecting  fisheries  by  laws,  and  increasing  the  numbers  of  fishes 
by  aqua-culture  and  fish-culture,  are  due  to  the  efforts  put 
forth  by  sportsmen's  clubs,  scattered  throughout  the  United 
States  as  offshoots  from  the  parent  New  York  Sportsmen's 
Club.  Too  much  praise  can  not  be  awarded  those  benevo- 
lent institutions,  united  solely  for  the  public  good,  for  which 
they  shun  no  duty  through  fear  of  the  poacher's  hatred  or 
the  malevolence  of  dealers  in  stolen  goods.  The  poacher 
both  hates  and  fears  them,  while  they  are  the  principal  reli- 
ance for  guaranteeing  the  public  that  the  laws  for  the  pro- 
tection of  fish  and  game  will  be  sustained. 

If  the  national  and  state  governments  will  unite  in  stock- 
ing and  protecting  the  fresh  waters,  they  will  soon  arrive  at 
truths  sufficiently  luminous  from  which  to  form  data  for  laws 
adequate  to  g» ,•  a  rn  the  whole  question.  To  the  ignorance 
of  legislators  may  henceforth  be  attributed  the  lack  of  suit- 
able laws  for  the  protection  and  stocking  of  water-farms  of 
millions  of  acres,  which  might  be  rendered  a  means  of  recre- 
ation for  the  improvement  of  health,  while  offering  cheap  and 
luxurious  food  to  the  million. 


I 


Cuttle-fish. — Sepia  officinalis. 


Killing  two  Bieds  with  one  Stone.  367 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  SALMON. 
Near  head  of  stream,  in  crystal  spring, 

Or  recess  of  the  strand, 
The  salmon  drops  its  precious  eggs 

Amid  the  pure  white  sand  ; 
And  here  tlie  infant  fish  disport 

Beyond  the  harm  of  tides, 
Each  swarming  slioal  resplendent 

With  dotted  silvery  sides. 

the  want  of  data,  the 
nature  and  habits  of 
salmon  were  a  sealed 
book    to    naturalists 
until,  through  the  dis- 
covery  and  practice 
of  fish-culture  by  ar- 
tificial means,  some 
mysteries  in  physiol- 
ogy Avere  interpreted. 
In  the  natural  his- 
tory of  the    salmon, 
two   questions  occur 
which  have  presented 
a  good  deal  of  difficulty  to  pisciculturists  and  naturalists  in 
arriving  at  just  conclusions.     The  first  is.  How  long  do  the 
young  salmon  inhabit  the  fresh-water  streams  in  which  they 
were  hatched  before  they  migrate  to  the  sea  ?    The  second 
is.  How  long  do  they  inhabit  the  sea  before  they  return  as 
grilse  to  the  rivers  in  which  they  were  bred  ? 

A  salmon  has  properly  four  stages  of  existence.  The  first 
is  when  it  is  a  parr,  or  a  small  bright  fish  with  dark  bars 
across  the  sides,  which  are  commonly  called  the  parr  marks. 


368 


Flshing  in  American  Watees. 


I 


3! 


The  Bccond  is  when  it  puts  on  the  silvery  scales  of  the  grilse, 
which  occurs  when  it  is  about  to  emigrate  to  the  sea.    It  ap- 
pears as  if  the  little  pet,  when  in  the  parr  state,  Required  some 
provision  against  the  novel  effects  of  salt  water  which  it  is 
about  to  encounter,  for  nature  furnishes  it  with  a  new  suit 
of  scales,  bright  and  silvery  as  those  of  the  parent  salmon. 
These  begin  to  develop  themselves  just  previously  to  the 
first  migration  of  the  fish.     The  scales  form  apparently  over 
the  old  skin,  and  in  doing  so  they  obscure  the  parr  marks, 
and  the  fish  becomes  a  smolt,  or  a  miniature  grilse  ;  L^t  that 
it  is  the  same  fish  may  easily  be  seen  by  rubbing  off  a  few  of 
those  new  scales,  when  the  parr  marks  are  plainly  seen  which 
were  hidden  beneath  them.     These  scales  are  at  this  time 
very  lightly  attached  to  the  skin,  and  can  be  easily  detached, 
coming  off 'even  by  the  mere  handling  of  the  fish;  and  this 
insecurity  of  the  attachment  of  the  scales  continues  through- 
out the  whole  period  of  grilsehood,  or  until  the  fish  becomes 
a  veritable  and  mature  salmon,  when  whether  it  develops  a 
new  suit  of  scales  is  not  known,  but  the  scales  certainly  be- 
come much  more  firmly  fixed  to  the  skin,  and  are  far  more 
difiicult  to  remove.     But  the  point  in  debate  is  how  long  the 
parr  remains  in  the  river  before  it  becomes  a  smolt.     Now 
experiment  has  shown  us  thus  much,  viz.,  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  parr  become  smolts  in  about  fifteen  montho,  that 
is,  supposing  them  to  have  been  hatched  from  the  egg  in  the 
fall,  or  say  in  the  winter.     They  live  in  the  river  over  the 
next  autumn,  and  do  not  become  smolts  and  migrate  to  sea 
until  the  next  succeeding  spring.     It  has  been  found  that  a 
very  large  proportion  of  them  do  not  become  smolts  and  mi- 
grate even  then,  but  stay  in  the  river  yet  another  year,  and 
so  do  not  put  on  the  smolt  scale  and  migrate  until  the  next 
succeeding  spring.    Thus  some  remain  in  the  rivers  altogeth- 
er two  years  and  two  or  three  months,  and  others  remain 
even  for  another  year  still,  and  do  not  migrate  till  the  third 
year.    These  facts  for  a  long  time  puzzled  naturalists,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  supposition  that  there  was  another  fish  of 


Clearing  up  the  Question. 


369 


the  salmon  species  which  never  went  to  the  sea,  called  the 
"Salmo  samulus,"  because,  after  the  great  annual  migration 
of  the  smolts,  parr  were  yet  found  in  the  rivers,  and  it  was 
thought  that  as  all  parr  became  smolts  in  fifteen  months, 
those  which  staid  behind  must  be  of  another  species  alto- 
gether. But  science  and  fish-culture  have  dispelled  this  er- 
ror, and  it  is  now  known  that  the  "  Salmo  samulus"  is  a 
myth. 

When  the  smolt  went  down  to' the  sea  for  the  first  time,  it 
was  generally  supposed  that  it  returned  to  the  river  again  in 
a  period  of  from  two  to  four  months,  and  its  extraordinary 
and  unusal  increase  was  always  cited  as  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable qualities  of  the  salmon;  for,  if  it  could  grow  from  the 
weight  of  only  two  to  three  ounces  to  eight  or  ten  pounds  in 
three  months,  it  was  almost  a  lusus  naturce.     But,  though 
smolts  do  grow  very  remarkably  under  favorable  circumstan- 
ces, a  strong  doubt  has  been  thrown  upon  the  fact  of  salmon 
growing  quite  so  fast  as  this,/ro»i  the  smolt  state,  by  experi- 
ment and  experience ;  for  it  has  been  found  uniformly— in 
all  cases  where  the  waters  were  what  are  termed  virgin 
waters,  that  is,  waters  never  before  inhabited  by  salmon- -that 
when  such  waters  were  stocked  with  young  salmon  fry,  or 
•  with  ova  laid  down  for  hatching,  a  period  of  fifteen  instead 
of  three  months  invariably  elapsed  before  the  emigrating 
smolts  came  back  to  the  river  as  well-grown  grilse  of  six  or 
seven  pounds'  weight ;  and  in  the  instance  of  much  larger 
grilse,  as  those  which  are  at  times  met  with  of  even  eleven 
pounds'  Aveight,  that  a  yet  longer  period  may  have  elapsed. 
This,  however,  is  merely  conjecture.     In  the  late  remarkable 
experiments  in  Australia,  where  no  such  thing  as  a  salmon 
ever  was  known,  it  was  clearly  proved  that  the  smolts  were 
a  year  and  some  months  at  sea  before  they  returned,  and  in 
other  waters  never  before  tenanted  by  salmon  the  same  re- 
sult has  ensued.     This  is  very  strong  evidence  against  the 
two  or  three  months'  theory,  particularly  when  the  evidence 
supporting  that  theory  was  gathered  from  well-stocked  rivers 

A  A 


370 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


II 


where  there  could  not  fail  to  arise  great  difficulties  in  identi- 
fying the  fish  upon  M'lvicli  experiments  had  been  tried;  for 
the  uncertainty  and  diMculty  of  marking  a  parr  of  two 
ounces,  which  is  to  grow  to  sixty  or  seventy  times  that 
weight  before  it  can  be  caught  again  and  identified,  can  not 
fail  to  be  very  great  indeed.  However,  this  is  still  a  moot 
question,  and  it  has  not  been  as  yet  satisfactorily  determiried, 
though  it  would  seem  that  ^1  c  souuueBt  and  most  reliable 
evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  fifteen  months'  theory  rather  than 
the  other. 

When  the  grilse  returns  to  the  river,  it  spawns  for  the  first 
time  as  a  grilse,  in  which,  its  third  stage  of  existence,  it  is  per- 
fectly distinguishable  from  the  salmon  ;  for  not  (  nly  are  the 
scales  loose  and  easily  detached,  but  the  fish  is  more  slender 
and  delicate  in  shape  than  the  adult  salmon,  and  the  tail  is 
much  more  forked.  Having  spawned, it  becomes  what  is  called 
a  kelt  or  fou!  fish.  The  flesh  is  white,  and  the  fish  is  out  of 
condition  and  unwholesome  to  eat.  It  then  goes  down  tu  the 
sea  by  easy  stages,  and  there,  by  the  aid  of  the  healthful  salt 
waters  and  plenteous  food,  it  soon  recovers  its  condition  and 
grows  rapidly,  often  increasing  four  or  five  pounds  or  more 
in  weight.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  (and  this  point  is 
clearly  ascertained  and  settled)  it  returns  again  to  the  river,* 
but  in  the  mean  time  it  has  lost  its  grilse  form  and  become  a 
veritable  salmon.  The  scales  now  are  hard  and  firm,  the  fish 
of  a  hardier,  rounder  make,  the  tail  has  lost  its  forked  shape, 
and  it  has  reached  its  fourth  and  last  stage  of  existence. 

This  change  in  the  form  of  the  fish  actually  at  one  time  led 
to  the  belief  that  salmon  and  grilse  were  of  a  different  spe- 
cies, and  some  few  persons  stoutly  .idvocated  this  view ;  but 
the  ova  of  salmon  have  been  found  to  produce  grilse,  and 
marked  grilse  have  been  retaken  as  salmon,  so  that  there  are 
not  the  slightest  groimds  for  such  a  wild  supposition  now; 
and,  indeed,  the  belief  always  was  a  very  partial  one,  and  con- 
fined to  one  or  two  wrong-headed  individuals,  so  that  it  is 
now  entirely  exploded.    As  a  salmon,  it  continues  in  the  same 


Pbgteot  Fish  at  Spawning-times.  371 

course  of  existence  until  it  is  cooked,  or  dies  of  old  age  or  of 
wounds  and  weakness  from  incessant  fighting  at  the  breed- 
mg-time.    It  seeks  the  river   very  year,  as  is  supposed,  thou,  h 
this  IS  but  assumption,  which  it  is  aln.ost  impossible  to  prove 
and  whether  it  breeds  every  year  or  only  at  intervals  it  is' 
hard  to  nay.     The  general  creed,  however,  is,  that  it  does 
breed  every  year,  and  all  that  it  requires  from  man  is  a  little 
reasonable  forbearance,  and  better  protection  at  the  breedmg 
season  until  it  again  reaches  the  sea ;  and  if  it  is  able  to  reach 
the  higher,  ranges  of  spawning-beds,  it  will  speedily  crowd 
our  rivers  with  delicious  food,  and  the  means  of  healthful  and 
magnificent  sport.     In  these  respect,  the  capacity  of  Amer- 
ican rivers  is  second  to  that  of  none  in  the  world.     Our  riv- 
ers  ought  to'swarm  with  salmon;  and  when  we  hear  of  riv- 
ers m  England,  ridiculously  small  by  comparison  with  our 
own  yielding  their  $100,000  a  year,  and  enormous  revenues 
besides,  do  we  not  feel  it  to  be  a  sin  and  a  shame  that  such 
splendid  capabilities  as  ours  should  be  suflfered  to  be  behind 
them,  and  to  fall  into  neglect  and  disuse,  and  that  such  im- 
portant resources  should  be  lost  to  the  country  and  to  the 
consumers  throughout  the  Union?    If  an  American  wants 
salmon-fi.  mg,  he  must  go  either  to  Canada  or  Scotland  for 
It,  and  this  is  disgraceful.     We  have  many  good  coast  and 
estuary  fishes,  but  none  equal  to  the  ^almon  in  all  respects 
Is  there  any  reason  why  we  should    ot  have  the  best,  and 
plenty  ot  it?    England  and  France  a.e  both  puttmg  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel.     Have  we  less  energy  and  determin- 
ation than  they  ? 

■DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  SALMON. 
PROCESS    OP   INCUBATION. 

The  egg  of  any  fish  of  the  ffenue  S'lmo,  before  impregna- 
tion with  the  milt  of  the  male  fish,  is  the  color  of  the  yolk  of 
a  hen's  egg,  and  apparently  of  about  the  same  consistency 
bemg  a  mixture  of  albumen  and  oil     In  tijis  particular  the 
egg  of  the  salmon  differs  from  iliose  of  the  families  Clupeid(^ 


'W 


372 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


I 


and  GadidcPy  which  appear  as  infinitesimal  atoms  of  albumen, 
enlarging  tenfold  within  an  hour  after  impregnation,  turning 
entirely  white,  and  the  fish  is  hatched  in  a  less  number  of 
hours  than  it  takes  of  days  for  the  [/enus  Salmo.  Incubation 
with  all  the  salmon  families  is  slow,  the  egg  indicating  no 
appreciable  increase  in  size  by  fructification ;  but,  being  por- 
ous, with  tubes  and  globules,  scientifically  termed  inicropyles, 
the  milt  fills  them,,  and  they  present  the  appearance  of  white 
globules  in  the  egg,  as  represented  by  P^ig.  1,  and  enlarged 
like  Fig.  2.     After  the  e^,^  has  remained  in  running  spring 


Fig.  1.  Salmon  egg  of  natural  size  after  fecundation.    Fig.  2.  Salmon  egg  enlarged,  to 

'cles  and  globules.    Fig.  3.  Salmon  egg  in  which  the  embryo  Is  per- 

Fig.  4.  Alevin  just  hatched,  enlarged,  and  showing  the  umbilical  vesicle. 


an 


ceptible 

Fig.  6.  Natural  length  of  the  alevin, 

water  of  temperatures  ranging  from  40°  to  50°,  the  egg  will 
disclose  the  shape  of  the  embryo  salmon  in  from  fifty  to  sev- 
enty days,*  as  illustrated  by  Fig.  3.  After  the  embryo  be- 
comes perceptible,  and  the  eyes  tolerably  distinct,  Avithin  a 
few  days — say  from  five  to  fifteen — the  salmon  will  hatch 
into  the  shape  of  Fig.  4,  as  enlarged  from  the  natural  size,  in- 
dicated by  the  length  of  line,  Fig.  5.  Suspended  to  the  um- 
bilical cord  is  a  sac  containing  aliment  for  the  alevin,  on 
which  it  subsists  by  absorption  from  twenty-five  to  forty 
days,  when  the  tiny  creature  takes  its  second  form.    The  egg, 

*  Salmon  have  been  hatched  in  fifty-five  days,  and  trout  in  thirty-five  days, 
in  water  55° ;  but  Mr.  Francis  recommends  spring  water  of  from  40°  to  45°, 
while  the  Cold  Spring  trout-ponds  at  Charleston,  N.  H.,  are  excellent  hatch- 
ing-waters, and  they  are  said  to  be  60"  as  mean  temperature. 


We  Imi'rove     itu  Age. 


873 


from  the  date  of  fructification  to  the  birth  of  the  fish,  varies 
from  60  to  120  days,  the  time  required  being  dependent  upon 
the  quality  and  temperature  of  the  water,  with  the  condition 
of  quiet  and  shade  necessary  to  accelerate  incubation. 

While  the  umbilical  vesicle  is  attached  to  the  tiny  fish  it 
is  called  an  "alevin"  (name  borrowed  from  the  French),  but 
after  its  absorption  it  is  known  as  a  "fry,"  or  "penk."  Now 
it  sculls  along  and  seeks  its  food  from  imperceptible  particles, 
as  animalculaB  of  the  stream  and  the  tiny  flc'dglings  falling 
to  the  surface,  or  rising  from  the  bottom  to  burst  from  their 
embryotic  state  and  take  wing  at  the  top  of  the  stream.    Like 


a 


Salmon  Fry— a,  the  natural  length. 

the  young  of  the  finest  breeds  of  animals  on  land,  it  appears 
more  delicate  and  less  able  to  contend  for  subsistence  than 
do  those  of  coarser  natures.  In  its  second  form  it  is  not 
beautiful,  and  few  would  suppose  it  a  young  salmon.  Its 
transverse  bars  are  plainly  marked,  and  within  three  months 
after  its  birth  it  assumes  lighter  shades,  and  carmine  spots 
begin  to  develop,  when  it  becomes  a  parr. 

This  specimen  is  half  the  natural  length,  retaining  its  natu- 
ral proportions.  Though  only  between  five  and  six  inches  in 
length,  the  parr  from  which  I  made  this  copy  was  taken  by  me 


A  Parr  Eight  Months  Old. 


on  the  fly  and  hook  with  which  I  had  that  morning  brought 
two  goodly-sized  salmon  to  gaff.     This  fact  proves  the  real 


374 


Fishing  in  Akeeican  Wa'i...£s. 


game  of  the  pet.     It  was  all  life— a  translucent  thing  of  ac- 
tion—having a  dark  drab  back,  barred  sides,  and  seven  dots 
of  carmine  on  each  side,  which  were  brighter  than  any  buni- 
^  ished  metal  or  precious  stone,  and  about  the  size  of  pigeon- 
shot.     It  was  the  most  anxious  and  voracious  creature  that  I 
had  ever  captured,  and  so  sat  down  at  once  on  the  bank  of 
Rattling  Run  to  sketch  this  liveliest  specimen  of  fish  kind 
that  I  had  ever  seen.     During  the  month  of  August  parr  of 
the  last  fall  and  winter's  hatch  take  their  places  on  the  reefs, 
and  nip  the  wings  of  flies  intended  for  their  parents ;  especial- 
ly is  this  so  of  the  part  of  the  shoal  intended  to  visit  the  sea 
with  the  next  spring  freshets. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  while  this  fish  has  the  parr  rays, 
or  the  horizontal  bars  peculiar  to  the  parr,  its  head  is  taking 
brtter  form,  the  mouth  apparently  not  so  large,  and  the  white 
scales  are  almost  beginning  to  appear;  but  this  parr  is  not 


A  Parr  Fifteen  Months  Old. 
Half  the  natural  length;  proportions  natural. 

to  visit  the  sea  until  it  arrives  at  two  years  of  age  or  more. 
Those  of  the  shoal  which  do  not  visit  the  sea  until  after  hav- 
ing spent  two  autumns  in  fresh  water  develop  less  rapidly 
than  do  such  as  visit  the  sea  after  spending  fifteen  months  in 
the  river.  There  being  no  longer  a  "  parr  controversy,"  the 
)iext  specimen,  of  the  same  shoal  as  this  one,  will  illustrate 
the  difference  in  the  development  of  those  intended  to  become 
voyagers  on  the  second  spring  after  their  birth. 

This  fish,  of  the  same  shoal  and  age  as  the  parr,  is  the  part 
of  the  same  hatch  intended  for  visiting  the  sea  after  remain- 
ing only  one  summer  in  the  stream  of  its  birth.  Nature,  more 
careful  than  man  m  protecting  the  fixniilios  of  animal  creation, 


♦.5 


m 


Getting  Eeady  foe  Sea.  375 

sends  only  half  the  shoal  to  sea  at  a  time;  the  remaining 
part  of  the  shoal  will  follow  next  year,  or  i3erhaps  a  few  will 
remain  three  summers  in  the  river  before  resorting  to  marine 


A  Smolt  Fifteen  Months  Old. 

feeding- grounds.     In  the  mean  time  we  lose  sight  of  the  first 
detachment,  which  falls  back  from  pool  to  pool,  and  descends 
rapids  and  falls  tail  foremost  until  it  arrives  in  the  estuary, 
where  it  faces  to  the  right  about  and  prepares  to  protect 
itself  from  the  monsters  of  the  deep.     For  some  days,  and 
perhaps  weeks,  it  dallies  in  the  lower  reaches  and  estuary, 
feeding  on  small  caplin,  shrimp,  and  the  roe  of  coarser  fish  un- 
til its  burnished  sides  form  an  armor  to  protect  it  against  the 
briny  deep.     Where  the  marine  feeding-grounds  of  the  sal- 
mon are  it  is  impossible  to  state  from  indubitable  data.    Sal- 
mon are  sometimes  found  in  soundings  off  the  Isle  of  Jersey 
several  hundred  miles  from  any  salmon  river,  and  yet  in  Can- 
ada the  netters  capture  all  their  fishes  approaching  their  riv- 
ers on  the  north  shore  of  the  St  Lawrence  li-om  the  west, 
when  the  sea  is  at  the  east.     That  this  ge?ire  of  fishes,  like  all 
others  habitually  visiting  fresh-water  streams  to  spawn,  re- 
turn and  enter  the  rivers  of  their  birth,  is  well  authenticated, 
while  it  has  been  satisfactorily  proven  that  if  scared  away 
from  the  estuary  by  nets  or  other  unnatural  fixtures  they 
will  enter  other  rivers. 

In  the  physical  transmutations  of  the  salmon,  from  the  time 
it  breaks  the  egg  and  hides  about  in  crevices  with  a  i)art  of 
the  egg  attached  to  its  abdomen,  to  the  time  when  it  fully 
matures  into  an  adult  salmon,  there  is  no  form  it  takes  which 


f 


IS  so 


graceful  and  beautiful  as  that  of  the  grilse,  the  last  stage 


376 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


short  of  the  mature  salmon.  A  slioal  of  them  is  like  a  joy- 
ous ball-party  in  full  costume.  It  lacks  the  embonpoint  of 
the  salmon  as  much  as  tht  young  people  of  a  gay  ball-party 
do  that  of  their  parents.  The  grilse— when  attached  to  a 
hook— plays  more  gayly  and  with  less  judgment  than  does 
the  full-grown  salmon,  skipping  about  and  playing  with  great 
energy,  and  never  stopping  to  sulk,  or,  more  properly, to  study 
the  cause  of  its  grief,  until  it  gayly  darts  up  to  the  gaffer  and 
falls  an  easy  prey,  as  does  the  coquette  to  the  practiced  skill 
of  a  heart-thief. 


The  Grilse. 


The  grilse  is  the  same  fish  which  left  its  river  as  a  smolt.  In 
its  ocean  pastures,  where  it  has  spent  one  or  two  winters,  it  has 
doffed  the  clumsy  guise  of  puppyhood,  and  the  top  of  its  head, 
dorsal,  and  caudal  have  become  velvety,  while  the  black  beads 
on  its  gills  and  upper  mandible  begin  to  appear.  It  lacks 
the  jetty  intensity  which  the  top  of  the  head  and  some  of  the 
fins  of  the  adult  salmon  disclose,  but  its  white  is  equal  in 
satiny  sheen  to  the  salmon  of  best  condition.  Its  weight  is 
from  five  to  eight  pounds,  and,  having  never  spawned,  it  fol- 
lows the  salmon  up  toward  the  spawning-pools  at  the  head  of 
the  stream,  reaching  them  toward  the  end  of  the  spawning 
season ;  and  after  spawning,  the  next  spring,  during  its  early 
rains,  or  in  winter  before,  it  falls  back  again  over  cataract  and 
rapid  until  it  gains  the  estuary,  to  return  to  sea,  and  fatten, 
and  enlarge  to  a  veritable  salmon. 

Thus  the  reader  may  have  seen  that  the  fingerling  becomes 
the  parr,  the  parr  develops  scales  to  cover  the  bars  on  its 
sides  and  becomes  a  smolt,  goes  to  sea  and  returns  a  grilse, 
then  returns  to  sea  and  comes  back  a  salmon. 


SuPEKioEiTY  Unchallenged. 


377 


The  Salmon. 

I  have  endeavored  to  illustrate  the  marks  and  forms  of  the 
salmon  in  its  different  stages,  concluding  that  pictorial  illus- 
trations from  life  are  more  comi^rehensible  than  explanations 
in  letter-press,  especially  to  the  student  at  angling,  who  has 
not  enjoyed  many  summers  since  he  first  wet  a  line  for  sal- 
mon, and  heard  the  beautiful  music  of  the  reel,  so  charmingly 
described  by  Stoddart : 

"  A  whirr !  a  whirr  I  the  salmon's  out 

Far  on  the  rushing  river  ; 
lie  storms  the  stream  with  edge  of  might, 
And,  like  a  brandished  sword  of  light, 
Rolls  plashing  o'er  the  surges  white, 

A  desperate  endeavor ! 
Hark  to  the  music  of  the  reel ! 

The  fitfid  and  the  grating ; 
It  pants  along  the  breathless  wheel, 

Now  hurried,  now  abating." 


378 


Fishing  in  A:iekicak  Wateks. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FISH  PROPAGATION  ASSISTED  BY  ART. 

As  fish-culture  assisted  by  art  lias  become  a  business  of 
magnitude  in  France,  and  in  England  in^n-eased  Jie  revenue 
from  salmon-waters  over  a  hundred  per  cent.,*  and  as  the 
Northern  and  Eastern  rivers  and  lakes  of  the  United  States 
are  well  adapted  to  the  rapid  increase  of  the  genus  Salmo, 
being  wooded,  shaded,  and  fed  by  living  springs,f  what  excuse 
is  there  for  longer  delay  in  restocking  the  rivers  which  used 
to  teem  with  salmon  and  trout,  and  stocking  anew  <^hose 
many  waters  wherein  fishes  of  the  (/enus  iSalmo  would  thrive? 
It  is  true,  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  England  States  are 
hopefully  in  earnest,  and  anxious  to  stock  and  protect  their 
salmon  and  trout  waters,  and  have  appointed  a  competent 
Fisheries'  Commission,  including  the  following  gentlemen : 

Maine— Charhs  G.  Atkins,  Augusta ;  N.  W.  Foster,  East 
Machias. 

JVew Hampshire-   Hon.  H. A. Bellows  (chairman),  Concord; 
"Wo  A.  Sanborn,  Weir's. 

Vermotit—Fiot:  A.  D.  Hagar,  Proc.torsville  ;  Hon.  Charles 
Barrett,  Grafton. 

Massachusetts— Alfred  K.  Field,  Greenfield ;  Theodore  Ly- 
man (secretary),  Brookline. 

Connecticut — H.  Woodward,  Middlctown ;  James  Rankin, 
Old  Saybrook. 

But  this  question  is  equally  applicable  to  the  State  of  New 

*  The  fishing  rental  of  the  Tpv  in  1853  was  less  than  $40,000  ;  in  1864  it 
had  risen  to  $75,000,  and  this  year  it  is  over  $100,000. 

t  "Let  any  one  look  at  the  map  of  New  England,  with  its  thousands  lakes 
and  rivers,  and  imagine  what  riches  ought  to  dwell  in  those  waters."— N.  E. 
Fisheries'  Report. 


Clexu  Stbeams  and  build  Fish-passes.         379 

York  and  the  vast  West,  especially  those  waters  running 
northward  and  eastward,  all  ol"  which  may,  with  a  trifling  ex- 
pense, be  raarle  alive  with  shining  shoals  of  the  mighty  sal- 
mon and  the  beautiful  speckled  trout. 

It  is  also  important  to  a:-.sist  the  propagation  of  other  food- 
fishes  by  anificial  means.  Legislatures  should  appropriate 
sums  for  these  pressing  objects,  which  not  only  cheapen 
meats,  but  add  to  the  variety  of  food  a  source  of  health  as 
well  as  luxury,  and  so  cheapen  it  as  to  bring  it  within  the 
means  of  all. 

Next  in  importance  to  artificial  propagation  is  the  purify- 
ing of  rivers  from  the  numerous  pollutions  incident  to  a  care- 
less procedure  in  manufacturing,  where  poisonous  minerals, 
tan-bark,  sawdust,  etc.,  drain  into  the  streams,  instead  of  be- 
ing conducted  away  from  them  or  consumed.  Commensurate 
in  importance  with  the  purification  of  the  rivers  are  properly- 
constructed  fish-passes,  to  enable  a  salmon  to  surmount  dams 
and  falls  to  reach  their  spawning-pools  at  the  heads  of  streams, 
for  without  such  means  procreation  can  not  go  forward,  and 
of  the  first  stock  few  may  be  taken  in  the  same  river,  but 
the  greater  number  will  seek  more  accessible  spawning-beds 
at  the  heads  of  other  rivers. 

Of  the  numerous  reasons  in  faxor  of  artificial  propagation, 
the  following  are  not  the  least  important : 

It  Las  been  proven  by  experiment  that  of  salmon  not  more 
than  one  in  a  thousand  hatched  naturally  arrive  at  maturity. 
Of  trout,  it  iH  ^}robable  that  double  that  proportion  mature, 
for  the  present  experiment  of  propagating  trout  and  salmon 
side  by  side  in  Australia  proves  that  trout  thrive  best,  and 
are  what  Lord  Dundreary  would  call  "the  most  wobust." 
But  thr  n..  -is  of  the  speckled  beauties  in  our  trout-streams 
and  por  is  !;ave  been  eliminated,  and  require  filling  up.  This 
can  not  }  .  done  without  the  assistance  of  art.  Let  us  sup- 
pose that  a  pond  which  is  supplied  by  streams  suitable  for 
spawning  is  stocked  wit]i  five  hundred  trout,  each  of  which 
weigiis  a  pound.     In  tlie  course  of  one  season  they  will  de- 


380 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


posit  250,000  ova.     Granting  that  a  considerable  pontion  of 
these  are  hatched,  is  it  ever  found  that  a  fiftieth  or  a  hun- 
dredth part  of  tlie  whole  arrive  at  maturity?    Far  from  this 
being  the  case,  the  number  of  trout  will  continue  almost  the 
same  for  years;  without  any  perceptible  increase.     The  rea- 
son is  plain.     So  soon  as  the  fry  are  hatched,  they  are  exposed 
to  the  attacks  of  the  parent  trout.     Within  tlie  limits  of  the 
reservoir  there  is  not  the  remotest  chance  of  their  ultimate 
escape.    It  is  true,  if  the  fingerlings  knew  enough,  they  might 
ascend  the  tributaries  of  the  preserve  to  shoals  where  the 
parent  trout  could  not  follow ;  but  they  do  not  know,  and 
man,  being  placed  over  the  kingdoms  of  inferior  animals, 
should  preserve  them  for  his  own  good.     Salmon  which 
spawn  in  tho  natural  waters  generally  go  to  the  heads  of 
the  streams  durir-fj  the  fall  floods  and  deposit  their  spawn ; 
when  the  waters  subside,  the  ova  is  sometimes  destroyed  by 
being  left  on  dry  land.     Other  fish  deposit  their  spawn  and 
cover  it  on  prior  beds  of  spawn.     Others  spawn  in  the  cur- 
rent of  the  stream,  and  a  freshet  carries  it  down  the  current 
as  food  for  all  the  inhabitants  below.     In  other  cases  the  fe- 
male salmon  makes  her  spawning-bed,  and  deposits  and  cov- 
ers up  the  ova,  while  the  male  fish  is  down  at  the  foot  of  the 
pool  guarding  it  from  the  incursions  of  an  army  of  water- 
guerrillas.     Sometimes  the  place  in  the  stream  selected  for 
the  spawning-bed  is  very  good  while  preparing  the  trenches 
for  the  spawn,  but  by  the  time  the  spawn  is  deposited  the 
stream  has  become  a  torrent,  and  washes  away  the  ova ;  and 
yet— just  like  a  headstrong  specimen  of  humanity — if  the  fe- 
male makes  up  her  mind  that  she  will  spawn  at  a  place,  the 
rapidity  of  the  flood  of  water  never  daunts  her,  though  tlie 
swiftness  of  the  current  prevents  the  roe  from  ever  touching 
bottom.    Long  Island  is  formed  of  a  net- work  tracery  of  trout- 
streams,  and  yet  there  are  but  ten  establishments  for  the  arti- 
ficial propagation  of  trout.     Some  proprietors  and  the  poach- 
ers of  the  island  capture  trout  in  winter  to  stock  ponds  which 
are  kept  for  the  commercial  advantages  of  letting  them  to  be 


Subjects  fob  Consideration.  381 

fished  by  amateurs  with  the  fly,  or  the  trout  are  fed,  and  then 
netted  and  taken  to  market.     There  is  no  general  attention 
paid  to  the  procreation  of  the  speckled  beauties.    Many  of 
the  best  preserves  on  the  island  are  depleted  of  trout  by  sheer 
neglect.     They  should  divide  their  ponds,  and  catch  their 
large  trout  and  use  them  for  f;tocking  subsidiary  waters.     In 
a  word,  they  should  tap  their  dams  with  pipes,  and  conduct 
water  into  spawning-boxes.     Where  their  dams  are  near  a 
road  or  turnpike,  they  should  run  the  pipes  underneath,  or 
place  their  boxes  along  the  embankment  of  the  dam  in  such 
position  as  to  form  a  rather  swift  flow  of  water  throuohout 
the  line  of  boxes.    Nothing  can  be  more  simple  or  safe  '^  The 
trout  hatched  in  that  way  should  be  placed  in  small  ponds 
each  brood  by  itself,  thus  necessitating  three  of  these  small 
ponds.     As  each  brood  arrives  at  two  years  of  age,  it  should 
be  turned  mto  the  main  preserve,  and  that  preserve  should 
be  swept  annually  with  a  large-meshed  net,  and  all  the  large 
trout  so  taken  should  be  transferred  to  the  pond  of  propaga- 
tion, which  should  be  watched  during  spawning-time -"in 
September,  October,  and  November-and  when   found  ripe 
ior  spawning  they  should  be  netted,  and  the  roe  and  milt 
taken  from  them  and  laid  in  the  breeding-boxes. 

Before  proceeding  favthev,  let  me  say  here  that  what  I  may 
state  about  propagating  salm.>n  is  eoually  applicable  to 
brook  trout,  for  the  only  difleience  in  the  treatment  of  sal- 
mon and  brook  trout  is  found  in  the  fact  that  trout  will  al- 
ways prey  upon  roe  and  young  fish-even  its  own-while 
only  the  salmon  Mt  is  so  unnatural ;  but  this  maternal  ob- 
tuseness  is  supposed  to  be  acquired  from  not  returning  to 
sea  with  her  brood,  and,  thus  left  to  the  mercy  of  fresh-water 
insects  and  the  scanty  food  of  the  river,  she  becomes  what 
the  habitans  of  Canada  call  a  "mea^/r^,"  with  no  more  soul 
than  a  miser. 


382 


FieiiiNG  IN  Amekican  Waters. 


BEST  WATER  FOR   HATCHING   S ALL:  ON. 

Spring  Avater  from  45°  to  55°  is  probably  the  best.  Spring 
water  is  preferable,  as  being  more  pure  than  river  water  even 
after  being  filtered,  while  its  temperature  is  more  equable, 
being  nearer  the  same  throughout  the  year.  Too  much  sur- 
face or  rain  water  is  injurious,  containing  less  vitality  for 
game  fish,  but  more  predaceous  insects,  so  that  their  larva? 
may  be  mixed  with  the  eggs  in  the  hatching-boxes,  and  prey 
on  the  spawn  before  it  is  hatched. 

In  situations  where  spring  water  can  hot  be  obtained  in 
sufiicient  quantities,  the  river  water  should  pass  through  a 
filter  of  sand  and  gravel.  If  the  spring  is  large  enough  and 
the  ground  suitable,  it  may  be  divided  into  artificial  rills, 
with  a  pipe  of  two  inches  run  of  water  to  each.  Under  all 
circumstances,  a  gentle,  equable,  and  pure  current  is  indis- 
pensable. 


HATCHING-BOXES  FOR  THE  INCUBATION   OF  THE    EGGS    OF   SAL- 
MON OR  TROUT,  AS  ADOPTED  BY  THE  COLLEGE  OF  FRANCE. 

These  boxes  are  fed  from  a  horizontal  pipe  two  inches  in 
diameter,  by  faucets  tapping  it  at  every  tier  of  five  boxes ; 
and  to  break  the  force  of  the  jet  so  that  it  will  not  derange 
the  ova  in  the  first  box,  and  to  assist  in  aeration,  a  perforated 
zinc  cap  is  sometimes  placed  before  it,  as  the  object  is  to 
maintain  a  regular  movement  of  the  current  throughout  the 
tier  of  boxes,  which  are  about  six  feet  long  and  two  and  a 
half  wide.  A  constant  flow  of  water,  of  nearly  equal  temper- 
ature, through  the  boxes  is  a  necessity.  At  Huningue,  in 
France,  all  the  hatching-boxes  are  in  a  Avell-ventilated  build- 
ing ;  and  as  hatching-time  continues  from  October  until  Feb- 
ruary, a  cover  to  the  hatching-boxes  is  essential ;  and  in  En- 
gland, to  protect  the  ova  from  thieves,  Mr.  Francis  recom- 
mended a  cover  of  perforated  zinc,  with  the  ends  which  are 
above  the  water  of  zinc  also ;  and  in  order  to  regulate  the 
temperature  of  the  water,  the  horizontal  pipe  should  be  sun- 


A  Link  in  aotmate  Nature. 


383 


in 


phed  from  a  reservoir  by  a  pipe  running  ,J„o„gh  a  dry-nir 
.■efngerator  (or  through  a  ehest  filled  ^ith  icel,  by  whic 
modern  American  invention  the  temperature  Jay  Lr^t 
lated  at  any  degree  required  between  freezing  and  ten  de- 
g^es  Mow  .ero.     The  pipe  should  be  eoiiedl  the tfrj. 

The  aquarium  presented  above  is  the  one  selected  by  the 
College  of  France  from  numerous  samples,  and  it  has  ,„Le1 
a  enccess ;  but  the  object  of  it  is  more  especially  fo  stiZ! 
the  eggs  d„rn,g  the  time  of  incubation.  \he  watertth",? 


I 


384 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


fore  nearly  all  husbanded  after  it  passes  through  the  boxes 
by  catching  it  in  a  marble  trough  and  sending  it  back  to  the 
supply  reservoir  by  a  pipe  from  a  hydraulic  ram,  or  a  turbin- 
like  tliat  by  Avhich  many  reservoirs  are  supplied  from  rivers 
or  springs.  These  plans  of  aeration  enable  flsh-culturists  to 
run  the  same  water  several  times  over  the  hatching-boxes; 
but  it  is  thouglit  by  some  professors  that — for  perfect  safety 
to  the  ova — the  water  should  be  continually  renewed,  and  not 
/low  over  them  a  second  time. 

In  establishments  of  fish-culture  like  the  government  one 
at  Iluningue,  they  endeavor  to  imitate  nat  ire  more  perfectly 
than  it  can  be  done  by  a  tier  of  boxes.  The}'  therefore  build 
a  race-way  thirty  feet  long,  a  yard  wide,  and  eight  inches 
deep,  as  the  trout-brook,  and  the  fountain  of  equal  tempera- 
ture feeding  it  by  pipes  is  the  spring.  In  this  race-way  are 
placed  crosswise  numerous  trays  of  terra-cotta,  glazed  inside 
to  prevent  contact  of  "onferva)  with  the  ova,  and  in  wliich,  to 
a  frame  of  wood,  glass  tubes  are  fitted,  and  called  a  grll,  the 
French  name  for  gridiron.  Tlie  tray  is  six  inches  wido,  four 
inches  deep,  and  as  long  as  the  race-way  is  wide.  Both  the 
tray  and  the  grille  may  be  moved  with  ease  to  another  race- 
way, or  the  grille  may  be  moved  to  clean  the  bottom  of  the 
tray  or  for  other  purpose.  The  following  cut  may  help  illus- 
trate. 


vt 


Fig.  1.  Terra-cotta  Tray,  to  tit  crosswise  in  race-way.     Fig.  2.  Grille  of  glass  tubes, 
made  to  fit  in  tlie  tray.    Fig.  3.  Race-way,  as  wide  inside  as  the  length  of  the  tray. 


Prevent  evil  Contiguity. 


38b 

After  the  roe  becomes  fruetified  by  the  milt,  the  case  of 
.i^TiJIes,  l|,g.  2,  IS  ]    ,ced  in  the  tray,  and  then  deposited  croh 
Wise  in  the  raee-n  ay,  .vhere  the  tray  is  mechanically  continod 
whentheovn        '.4.  .od  on  the  glass  grille,  and  J  ftfornature' 
to  do  the  rest,  only  seemg  that  the  water  continu. .  to  Ibrm  a 
stream  hk.  a  natul-ai  brook  through  the  race-way,  and  that 
he    .Hjt  be  never  glaring  or  the  ten.perature  of  the  water 
too  lugh,beanng  in  mmd  that  there  will  be  several  degrees 
of  difference  between  the  water  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the 
way. 

The  grilles  should  be  examined  daily,  and  any  addled  or 
•load  eggs  remo      '  from  eoniact  with  others.     This  should 
>e  done  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  other  eggs,  as  great  quiet 
•luring  the  months  of  incubation  is,      essai-y. 

The  following  cut  represent,  the  implements  for  removino- 
dead  Qggs.  ° 


Pig.l.TlieSiphou,  used  for  uxiiminiu"- the  e".rs     y  Pi„m.,..  r 

3.  Fine  brass  wi?e  for  taitug'up  S  4gi"'='''"=  °"'  '^'^^  ^^fe'S. 

The  siphon  is  used  in  France  to  draw  up  the  dead  eggs- 
but  as  It  generally  disturbs  so  many  of  the  live  ones,  its  o-en-' 
era!  use  m  fish-culture  is  now  confined  to  examining  the  el^s 
while  pincers  with  sharp-pointed  nibs  are  often  used  for  p1ck' 
mg  out  the  dead  eggs;  but  Mr.  Francis  states  in  his  "Fish 
Culture  -a  small  but  very  useful  volume-- Some  use  a 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corooration 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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386 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


small  needle  tied  to  a  stick;  but  the  toughness  of  the  ova  re- 
sists the  prod  of  the  needle,  and  goes  on  slipping  about.  *  *  * 
The  best  plan,  by  very  far,  is  to  twist  up  a  piece  of  fine  brass 
wire  into  an  eye  just  big  enough  to  take  the  ova,  tie  it  to  a 
fine-pointed  handle,  bend  it  to  the  most  convenient  angle  for 
lifting,  softly  introduce  it  between  the  ova  and  under  the  one 
you  wish  to  withdraw,  and  fetch  it  out  swiftly,  but  steadily." 

SPECIAL   DIRECTIONS   ABOUT  PREPARING   SPAWNING-BOXES. 

The  following  explanations  were  made  by  one  of  the  fish- 
culturists  engaged  on  the  Tay,  in  Scotland : 

The  boxes  for  containing  the  ova  were  twenty-four  in  num- 
ber, each  being  six  feet  long,  eighteen  inches  wide,  nine  inches 
deep,  and  open  at  the  top.     The  whole  were  disposed  in  a 
double  row,  parallel  with  the  original  course  of  the  rill.  Each 
row  consisted  of  twelve  boxes,  placed  end  to  end,  the  beds  of 
the  foremost  commencing  shortly  below  the  lower  end  of  the 
dam.     A  piece  of  three  inches  in  depth  and  nine  in  width  was 
cut  from  each  log,  in  order  to  allow  a  free  passage  for  the 
stream  through  the  whole  series.     At  the  junction  of  each 
box  was  nailed  a  sheet  of  tin,  with  turned-up  sides,  to  pre- 
vent the  escape  of  the  water.    A  couple  of  pipes,  a  yard  in 
length  and  two  inches  in  diameter,  conveyed  the  stream  to 
the  foremost  box  in  each  row,  the  end  of  the  pipes  inserted  in 
the  dam  being  covered  with  fine  wire  gauze  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  trout  and  insects.     The  whole  were  arranged  on 
a  gentle  slope,  so  as  to  avoid  stagnation,  and  insure  a  tolera- 
bly rapid  flow  of  water. 

The  boxes  being  arranged,  a  strata  on  which  to  place  the 
ova  was  then  formed.  It  consisted  of  a  mixture  of  sand  and 
gravel,  of  the  depth  of  several  inches,  upon  which  were  de- 
posited pebbles  of  the  ordinary  size  of  road  metal.  When 
properly  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  ova,  the  stream  av- 
eraged two  inches  in  depth  above  the  pavement. 

At  a  short  distance  below  the  dam  two  ponds  were  con- 
structed to  contain  the  fry,  the  one  receiving  the  stream  from 


I 

New  Eules  in  Domestic  Cikcles.  387 

the  double  row  of  boxes,  and  the  other  from  the  bed  of  the 
nil.  The  superficial  area  of  each  was  two  hundred  and  forty 
yards,  bemg  much  too  small,  as  finally  ascertained,  for  the 
hosts  of  fry  with  which  they  were  ultimately  tenanted. 

SECURING  THE  OVA  OF  A  SALMON. 

The  process  by  which  a  salmon  is  made  to  exude  its  roe  or 
milt  is  illustrated  by  the  engraving;  but  the  abdomen  of  the 
fish  should  be  kept  under  water,  and  a  napkin  is  better  than 
the  naked  hand  wherewith  to  hold  the  tail.  It  being  diffi- 
cult to  hold  a  salmcn,  three  persons  are  frequently  required. 
But  what  says  our  authority  ? 

In  order  to  obtain  the  spawn  in  a  perfectly  mature  state, 
the  fish  were  taken  from  the  spawning-bed  in  the  very  act  of 
Its  deposition.  They  were  caught  with  nets  at  night.  When 
taken  they  were  instantly,  and  without  injury,  put  into  an 
oval  tub  one  fourth  full  of  water.  So  soon  as  a  pair  of  suita- 
ble fis1>  were  captured,  the  ova  from  the  female  was  immedi- 
ately ch.charged  into  the  tub  by  a  gentle  pressure  of  the 
hands  from  the  thorax  downward.    The  milt  of  the  male  was 


ejected  in  a  similar  manner,  and  the  contents  of  the  tub  gen- 
tly stirred  with  the  hand.    After  the  lapse  of  a  minute  the 


388 


FlSniNG   IN   AlVtEKICAN   WatEKS. 


water  was  poured  off,  with  the  exception  of  sufficient  to  keep 
the  ova  submerged,  and  fresh  supplied  in  its  place.  This  also 
was  poured  off,  and  fresh  substituted  previously  to  removing 
the  impregnated  spawn  to  the  boxes  prepared  for  its  recep- 
tion. 

In  discharging  the  ova  from  the  abdomen  of  the  female  all 
violence  was  carefully  avoided.  If,  on  examination,  the  ova 
were  found  to  be  immature,  the  fish  was  immediately  return- 
ed to  the  river,  and  others  in  a  more  advanced  stage  taken. 
When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  spawn  was  collected,  it  was  at 
once  removed  to  the  hatching-ground.  An  amount  propor- 
tioned to  the  size  of  the  boxes  was  carefully  poured  in  at  the 
head  of  each,  the  action  of  the  water  scattering  it  pretty 
equally  among  the  crevices  of  the  stones.  A  temporary  in- 
cr  ased  flow  of  the  stream  easily  distributed  it  wherever  it 
might  happen  to  be  too  closely  crowded  together.  Out  of 
24,000  roe  deposited  in  the  spawning-boxes,  20,000  were  suc- 
cessfully hatched. 

MR.  JOHN   GILLONE's  PROCESS   OF  PROPAGATING  TROUT  AND 

SALMON. 

As  owner  of  the  "  Longland  Fishery,"  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Gillone  is  received  with  much  confidence  and  respect  through- 
out England.     « In  the  first  place,"  he  states, "  we  have  one 
mill-dam  becked  at  top  and  bottom."     (As  the  word  heck 
means  "  an  engine  or  instrument  for  catching  fish,"  we  sup- 
pose that  he  means  a  peculiar  net  or  singularly  constructed 
weir  for  preventing  trout  or  salmon  from  passing  it,  and  ren- 
dering them  liable  to  capture  in  the  attempt.)    The  upper 
part  of  the  dam  was  laid  with  gravel  suitable  for  salmon  or 
trout  to  spawn  in  naturally.     There  is  also  a  very  suitable^ 
stream  for  trout  or  salmon  to  deposit  their  spawn,  and,  so 
soon  as  our  fishing  season  is  about  to  close,  we  take  the  num- 
ber offish  required  to  fill  our  breeding-boxes  with  fecundated 
ova,  and  put  them  into  the  dam,  and  keep  them  there  until 
we  see  them  beginning  to  spawn.     (Spawning  is  sometimes 


CiPHEEINO    SO  AS   TO   ESTIMATE. 


389 


continued  for  several  days,  and  sometimes  weeks,  by  a  single 
pair  offish.  The  male  trout  or  male  salmon  sometimes  forces 
the  female  to  the  spawning-bed  before  all  the  ova  is  sufficient- 
ly matured  for  deposition.)  We  then  shut  down  our  upper 
sluice,  catch  and  examine  all  the  fish,  and  keep  in  a  large 
wooden  box  all  the  fish  ready  for  manipulation,  returning  the 
rest  to  the  dam  till  we  see  them  beginning  to  spawn  a  second 
time,  and  so  on  till  we  get  them  all  spawned. 

We  spawn  them  in  a  box  three  feet  six  inches  long,  seven 
inches  wide,  and  nine  inches  deep,  with  as  much  water  as  will 
cover  the  fish.    We  first  take  the  female  fish  from  a  large  box 
filled  with  water  clbse  at  hand,  lay  her  in  the  little  box  as  she 
swims  (that  is,  her  back  up),  taking  her  by  the  tail  with  the 
right  hand,  and  with  the  left  hand  gently  press  from  the  neck 
to  the  vent  until  you  get  all  the  roe  exuded.     We  then  pour 
off  about  .':=af  the  water,  and  use  the  male  fish  the  same  way, 
mixing  the  milt  with  the  water  by  the  hand.    After  mixing 
the  ova,  we  have  a  large  filter  that  fits  the  neck  of  a  bottle, 
water-tight,  with  a  rim  of  wire  gauze  two  inches  deep.     We 
then  fill  the  bottle  and  filter  with  water;  then,  pouring  off  the 
greater  part;  of  the  water  in  the  spawn-box,  we  empty  the  roe 
and  water  into  th3  filter.     The  roe,  of  course,  sinks  into  the 
bottle ;  the  water  runs  off  through  the  wire  gauze,  and  pre- 
vents any  of  the  ova  from  being  spilled.     The  bottle  is  mark- 
ed off  in  divisions,  each  division  holding  800  eggs  of  an  aver- 
age size.     By  this  way  we  count  our  roe  with  little  trouble 
that  we  deposit  in  our  breeding-boxes.    In  putting  the  ova 
into  the  breeding-boxes,  I  have  a  tin  tube  that  fills  the  neck 
of  the  bottle,  tapering  to  about  a  half-inch  circle  at  the  top. 
This  tube  I  place  below  the  water  in  the  breeding-box,  and 
gradually  empty  the  roe  into  glass  jars.     Our  breeding-boxes 
are  two  in  number,  or  rather  a  continuation  of  one.    They 
are  laid  quite  level,  so  that  the  water  circulates  down  the  one 
and  up  the  other.    The  boxes  are  made  of  wood,  four  inches 
deep,  one  foot  wide,  and  the  length  of  the  two  boxes  com- 
bined is  135  feet.   .These  boxes  are  supplied  with  frames  in- 


390 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


side  each  three  feet  long,  filled  with  narrow  strips  of  glass, 
with  the  sharp  edges  ground  off  to  prevent  cutthig  the  young 
fish.     The  glass  is  laid  across  the  stream,  forming  gutters  in 
which  the  ova  is  placed  in  rows  across  the  run  of  the  water- 
the  glass  is  supported  in  the  frames  three  quarters  of  an  inch 
from  the  bottom  of  the  box,  the  water  flowing  freely  both 
above  and  below  the  ova.    These  boxes  are  capable  of  hatch- 
ing at  a  time  15,000  salmon  or  trout.    This  season  we  have 
24,000  salmon  eggs  deposited  in  them,  and  the  eggs  are  be- 
coming quite  visible.     In  depositing  the  ova  in  the  several 
boxes,  I  keep  each  fish's  eggs  separate,  and  marked  on  the 
boxes  1,  2, 3,  etc,     I  keep  corresponding  numbers  in  a  book, 
with  a  remark  on  each  fish's  roe  at  the  time  of  spawning ;' 
and  during  the  time  of  incubation,  if  I  see  any  thing  worthy 
of  notice,  I  take  a  note  of  the  number  and  what  has  happened. 
I  pick  out  all  the  dead  ova  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  keep 
an  account  of  the  number,  and  when  the  hatching  is  finished 
I  subtract  the  number  of  the  dead  from  the  number  deposit- 
ed, which  will  show  about  the  quantity  we  have  hatched. 

CARE   IN   OBTAINING  FECUNDATED  SPAWN. 

Whenever  practicable,  it  is  desirable  to  take  the  trout 
from  the  spawning-beds  by  means  of  nets,  so  as  to  insure  the 
maturity  of  the  ova.     It  can  best  be  done  in  the  night.     So 
soon  as  caught,  the  fish  should  h.  placed  in  a  large  tub,  or 
other  vessel,  partially  filled  wii.    water,  till  a  milter  and 
spawner  are  taken.     In  ejecting  the  ova,  the  female  should 
first  be  held  over  a  bucket  or  large  tin  can  half  full  of  water 
the  lower  end  of  the  abdomen  being  inserted  in  the  water' 
in  order  to  prevent  the  exposure  of  the  ova  to  the  air.    A 
gentle  pressure  of  the  hand  from  the  thorax  down  each  side 
of  the  abdomen  will  discharge  the  ova,  if  mature,  without  the 
least  injury  to  the  fish.     The  water  in  the  bucket  should  then 
be  reduced  to  three  or  four  quarts  previously  to  ejecting  the 
milt  of  the  male.    In  expelling  the  milt  the  course  pursued 
IS  precisely  the  same  as  that  just  described,  the  lower  end  of 


Gently  urging  Nature. 


391 


yxRippiNG  A  Trout. 


the  ahdoraen  being  in  this  case  also  inserted  in  the  water. 
After  stirring  the  contents  of  the  bucket  with  the  hand,  the 
water  should  be  poured  off  and  fresh  supplied  several  times 
in  succession,  until  no  trace  of  the  milt  can  be  seen,  always 
taking  care  to  keep  the  ova  submerged.     The  spawn  may 
then  be  moved  to  the  hatchmg-ground  or  boxes ;  for  the  arti- 
ficial spawning-bed  may  be  made  in  a  ditch,  dug  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  paved,  and  supplied  through  pipes  with  water,  as 
well  as  in  boxes ;  but  experiments  have  giv  n  the  preference 
to  boxes,  as  susceptible  of  forming  thereby  a  stream  more 
equal  in  flood,  volume,  and  temperature.     In  the  removal  of 
the  ova  for  a  short  distance,  it  is  unimportant  in  what  man- 
ner they  are  conveyed,  so  long  as  they  are  not  much  shaken. 
In  transporting  ova  a  great  distance,  it  should  be  done  in 
the  winter  or  spring,  placed  in  tanks  lined  with  sponge  and 
swamp-moss,  with  an  aerating  pump  placed  in  it  for  frequent- 
ly moving  the  water,  changing  it,  and  exposing  it  to  the  air. 
Fecundated  ova  have  been  packed  in  moss  by  Seth  Green  and 
sent  by  n  ail  a  thousand  miles,  and  then  hatched  with  very 
small  loss. 


392 


Fishing  in  American  Waters 


A   SIMPLE   PROCESS   FOR   PREPARING   A   SPAWNING-BED. 

If  you  have  a  trout-pond,  tap  it  at  the  sluice  in  the  dam 
with  several  pipes  of  two  inches  diameter,  covering  the  ends 
in  the  pond  wi<h  fine  wire  gauze  to  exclude  youno-  fish  or 
the  eggs  ofsuch  fish  or  reptiles  as  are  enemies  to  trott.   Con- 
duct the  water  through  these  pipes  to  rows  of  boxes  about 
two  feet  wide  and  six  feet  long,  the  boxes  from  the  head  one 
nearest  the  dam  resting  two  inches  lower  than  the  one  which 
immediately  precedes  it  so  as  to  produce  a  current  sufiicient- 
y  swift  in  this  artificial  stream  formed  of  a  row,  or  several 
lows  of  boxes,  and  each  row  formed  of  half  a  dozen  boxes 
One  pipe  to  supply  each  row  of  boxes,  and  then  you  may 
have  as  many  rows  of  boxes  as  you  have  water  to  supply 
always  bearing  in  mind  that  the  water  must  run  continually.' 
The  waste  water,  after  it  leaves  the  boxes,  may  be  conducted 
by  a  ditch  into  the  brook  below  the  dam,  or  into  a  pond  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  young  trout.     The  bottoms  of  the  boxes 
are  next  covered  to  the  depth  of  a  couple  of  inches  with  sand 
and  small  pebbles,  upon  which  is  laid  a  pavement  of  stones 
trom  three  to  six  inches  in  diameter.     The  water  should  be 
as  much  as  two  inches  deep  above  this  pavement,  and  fill  the 
boxes  two  thirds  full.    The  boxes  are  open  at  the  top.    Then 
pour  the  fecundated  roe  equally  over  the  paved  bottom  of 
each  box,  and  it  will  soon  find  its  way  into  the  crevices  of 
the  stony  bottom,  and  within  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  days 
the  trout  will  be  hatched,  and  a  bag  connected  to  the  abdo- 
men by  an  umbilical  cord  contains  sustenance  sufficient  for 
torty  days,  after  which  the  tiny  creature  begins  to  seek  food 
and  should  be  removed  to  its  pond. 

FEEDING   YOUNG  TROUT   OR  SALMON. 

After  the  absorption  of  the  abdominal  vesicle,  the  fry  re- 
quire food  of  a  fine  and  nourishing  kind-crumbs  of  boiled 
liver  m  small  particles,  minced  meat  or  fish  of  any  kind  or  a 
pate  of  the  intestines  of  any  animal  or  fowl;  horse-flc'sh  is 


Food  of  easy  Digestion. 


393 


^eiy  good;  cheese-curd,  farinaceous  food,  may  be  mixed  and 
all  put  in  solution,  and  fed  to  the  tiny  things  through  a  syr- 
inge ;  maggots— called  gentles— a  bait  :br  sale  at  all  the  rod- 
fishing  places  in  Europe,  and  the  larvje  anr  flies  of  the  season, 
form  good  food  after  the  fish  are  two  months  old. 

STOCKING   OLD  PONDS   WITH   TROUT. 

Old  ponds,  even  if  inhabited  by  trout,  are  apt  to  fill  with 
weeds,  which  grow  from  all  parts  of  the  bottom  except  the 
channel  cut  by  the  creek  flowing  through  it ;  and  if  the  stream 
be  too  small  compared  with  the  size  of  the  pond,  so  that  the 
water  is  not  renewed  sufliciently  often,  then  the  eels,  sunfish 
perch,  and  pike  are  apt  to  accumulate,  to  the  ultimate  exter- 
mination of  the  trout.  It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  before 
stocking  an  old  pond,  that  the  water  be  drawn  ofi"  and  the 
bottom  of  the  pond  thoroughly  cleaned.  The  expense  of 
cleaning  a  pond  is  partially  paid  by  the  manure  thus  ob- 
tamed.  Some  persons,  after  cleaning  a  pond,  sow  the  bottom 
with  hmo  and  salt.  The  creek  should  also  be  cleaned  up  to 
Its  source  by  sweeping  it  with  small-meshed  nets;  but  all  its 
shades  on  the  margin  of  the  stream,  and  its  hiding-places  of 
rocks  and  stones  in  the  stream,  should  be  left,  and  pegs  or 


394 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Waters, 


o  t  r  ,',  .  ''°"°'"'  '""""S  the  top,  of  them  a  foot 
0.  8o  above  the  bottom,  to  prevent  poacher,  from  netti,,,,  the 
pond  or  ,,  The  dam  may  or  may  not  be  eon,tr;ctod 

so  a,  to  permit  the  trout  to  follow  down  the  stream  to  it, 
estuary  and  return  at  will.  This  would  depend  upon  agree- 
ment  between  the  different  owners  of  the  stream.     But  when 

bhng  dam  offer,  an  mdueement  to  ,melt,  herring,  etc.,  to 
spawn  m  the  pond,  and  thus  stock  it  with  the  best  feed  ^o,. 
,.ble  for  trout,  for  those  trout  which  feed  on  shrimp,  ,melt 
spearmg,  young  herring,  and  the  roe  of  fishes  are  always  ,u-' 
penor  to  such  a,  feed  on  worm,  brought  down  the  ,tream  by 
f,  Zm     /  "'™SV-  of  the  principal  charms  of  the  trou' 
,  that  he  feed,  on  the  flies  which  swarm  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  thus  enlivening  and  beautifying  the  water  by 
breakmg  to  the  surface  and  forming  numerous  wake,  of  large 
c^rc  es,  and  sometimes  rising  above  the  surface  and  disclosing 

Ten  h?w        '  "'?"'"  ""''  ^''"'y"'  "'^'■^  "-  «™<^^ 
touch  a  r  T  ;rf  ■"S.""'™  ^bstantial,  and  will  not 

oast  beef ",',  IV       ^  ""'"*''  '"'"'™"y'  ^'''"^  -l"-^ 
roast  beef,  a,  well  a,  plum-pudding  and  omekUe  sovMie.     So 

the  trout  requn.es  hi,^te  <fe  ^i.^,,,,  „f  somethC  more 
,ub8tantial  than  flies.  sometnmg  moie 

Dubravius,  Dr.  Lebault,  and  many  piscatorial  professor, 

caie  of  them.    Wo  therefore  extract  the  gist  of  thHr  advice 

n<.rmmgled  w.th  our  own,  a,  follow,:  Ipond  intended T; 

ether  profit  or  pleasure  should  be  cleansed  once  every  three 

bvwhichTVT"'."  '""'^^  "<""'"'^'='»  "*  '"e Stream 
by  which  It  1,  fed,  or  if  sustained  by  more  surface-water  than 

of  spring-water.    It  should  be  drained  and  lie  dry  six  or 

twelve  months,  both  to  kill  the  water-weed,  and  the  animals 

which  feed  on  trout  and  it,  roe.    The  letting  your  pond  dry 

rottiTthTpor^''"""'  '^ ''-"'-''  '--'*  •<"'«-  •"' 

In  reconstructing  your  pond  after  draining  it,  and  havino- 


Habitations  for  Trout. 


395 


made  tlie  earth  firm  where  the  head  of  the  pond  must  be,Le- 
bault  advises  that  you  drive  in  two  or  three  rows  of  oak  or 
elm  piles,  which  should  be  scorched  in  the  fire  or  half  burned 
before  they  be  driven  in  the  earth,  for  being  thus  used  it  pre- 
serves them  much  longer  from  rotting;  and  having  done  so, 
lay  fagots  or  bavins  of  smaller  wood  between  them,  and 
then  earth  between  and  above  them;  and  then,  having  first 
very  well  rammed  them  and  the  earth,  use  another  pile  in 
like  manner  as  the  first  were,  and  note  that  the  second  pile 
IS  to  be  of  or  about  the  same  height  that  you  intend  to  make 
your  sluice  or  flood-gate,  or  the  vent  that  you  intend  shall 
convey  the  ovei-flowings  of  your  pond,  or  any  flood  that  shall 
threaten  to  break  the  pond  dam.    Then  he  advises  the  plant- 
ing of  willows  and  osiers  about  the  dam,  and  cast  in  charred 
logs  not  far  from  the  side,  as  also  upon  the  sandy  places,  in 
order  to  protect  spawning-beds  and  form  hiding-places  for 
the  small  fry.    All  ponds  should  contain  places  of  gravel  bot- 
tom, and  places  sandy  and  shallow,  where  trout  may  disport 
themselves  and  burnish  their  sides.    Fish  should  also  have 
retiring-places,  such  as  hollow  banks,  or  shelves,  or  roots  of 
trees,  to  keep  them  from  danger,  and  to  shade  them  at  times 
during  the  day  in  the  extreme  heat  of  summer,  albo  from  the 
extremity  of  cold  in  winter.    If  too  many  trees  grow  about 
your  pond,  the  leaves,  falling  into  the  water,  will  impreg- 
nate it  and  injure  the  flavor  of  the  fish.     Although  towering 
trees  form  too  dense  a  shade,  and  the  foliage  is  bad  for  the 
stream,  while  they  yield  cover  to  invite  winged  game  and 
the  consequent  gunner,  yet  shooting  much  about  a  fish-pre- 
serve is  injurious,  and  I  would  advise  the  planting  of  willow 
and  alder  to  partially  shade  the  stream  or  pond,  and  render 
firm  the  shores. 

Two  trout-ponds  are  more  profitable  than  one  of  the  same 
area  as  the  two,  because  they  may  be  cleaned  alternately, 
and  the  trout  turned  into  one  while  the  other  is  under  clean- 
ing process. 
In  small  ponds,  or  ponds  where  the  small  fry  of  common 


396 


FisiiiNo  IN  Amekican  Watkks. 


hh  often  form  f„o,l  for  tront,  Lcbanlt  a,lvi»e,  the  frclin^  „f 
"out  l,y  throwms  i.ito  tho  pond  chipping,  of  broad,  culd, 
Sra,,.  or  the  entrails  of  ehieken,,,  or  of  any  bird  or  beLt       ; 
bll  to  feed  yourselves.     On  tho  score  of  feeding  trout  in  pre- 
serves, our  experience  is  that  they  are  generally  fed  too  mud, 
In  ponds  where  feed  is  scarce,  living  bait  should  be  thrown 
in  siieh  as  nunnows,  mummies,  shrimp,  and  all  Icinds  offish 
wh,eh  nature  intended  for  bait  by  forbidding  them  ever 

should  be  done  sparmgly.    We  have  known  several  ponds  on 
tuTu^l  :::;   't'-%'"^«^'-  "'^O  -■■"«  ^^-y  ^re  l^d    „m 
tm„.     We  regret  to  state  that  some  animals  endowed  with 

tend  that  they  are  waters  intended  for  the  propagation  of 
t.out,when  n.  reality,  they  are  pounds,  or  liqiidbas.iles 

:^t:r:itjrc3i-rt^^^^^^^ 

uoiiar  and  a  half  a  pound  has  frequently  been  mid  f^v  f,..„. 

bought  at  wholesale.     It  is  said  Lt  th'ese  Pet':  F,mk    ^b 

he  trout-streams  of  their  neighborhoods  by  mean    of  „"! 

thTZt  o7  cr""rr"-^™ '"" ''-'  o'^eptoXrr, 

tne  iHst  of  March-and  deposit  their  stolen  gains  in  liouid 
pounds,  w  ore  they  feed  them  until  the  markft  ope  s  Zt 

eept  f„,  the  p„,-pose  of  se.ence  or  the  object  of  propagatiin 


The  vkky»  latest  Methods. 


397 


SECTION  SECOND. 
ainswoktu's  race  and  screens. 


A.  Top  of  Race.    B.  Water  Level.    C.  Upner  Screen,  or  Sieve.    D.  Under  Screen     E 
Bottom  of  Race.    G.  Supply  Pond.    H.  FilteriuK  Gate. 

The  Upper  Screen  is  represented  from  the  pround-plan,  in  order  to  show  the  form  of 

he  perfo.atert  bottom,  and  the  same  alter  paving  it  with  pel/bles     tTic  bo  torn  of 

SeenTs  ^Vt^-^^f '^''^V^»'  !^JVtJ!^j}^:- i^^  th|  side  oniy  of  the  {j-^der 

in  construction, 


-^.^u»,..v^.»  ....ii,  n.c  i-iiiiic  View  ,   uuL  lue  Huie  oniv  or  tne  ilnnpr 

^ crstr'nXn' '"'''^-    ^^^  '"'"''"  ^'  suggestive,  calling  for  judgme^nt  and  science 


The  object  of  this  invention  is  to  induce  trout  to  spawn  wlierc 
the  fish-culturist  may  gather  the  eggs  and  protect  tliem 
until  lie  can  transfer  them  to  the  hatching-boxes  once  or 
twice  a  week,  and  it  is  a  valuable  step  on  the  road  of  aqua- 
culture  toward  husbanding  all  the  resources  of  a  stream. 
The  object  is  to  form  a  race-way  of  water  in  a  stream  of 
moderate  flow,  and  divide  this  race  into  three  compart- 
ments. Those  are  the  bottom  of  the  race  paved  with  cob- 
ble-stones, E ;  a  few  inches  above  ii,  and  of  the  same  width, 
is  the  lower  screen  or  sieve,  D ;  a  fow  inches  above  which 
is  the  upper  screen,  C.  Trout  have  access  to  screen  C  for 
spawning,  and  as  tiie  bottom  of  it  is  perforated  with  holes 
twice  as  large  as  a  trout's  egg,  of  course  the  eggs  laid  on 
it  will  run  through  the  bottom  of  the  screen  and  lodge  on 
the  under  one,  which  is  perforated  with  very  small  holes 
to  drain  it,  but  not  pass  the  eggs.  Screen  C  is  divided  into 
trays,  with  handles  at  the  sides  for  removing  them  by  the 
hand ;  the  bottom  is  then  covered  with  pebbles,  as  indi- 


398 


Fishing  in  Amerwan  "W  ateks. 


13 

I 


lert 


cated  by  the  upper  half  of  the  screen ;  the  lower,  or  len 
^alf,  merely  represents   the  perforated  bottom   of  zinc 

lZ7^  Yr  T^'''^  *^'  fecundated  eggs,  is  the  same 
width  and  length  as  C,  divided  into  trays  also  for  remov- 
ing their  contents  conveniently. 
The  engraving  represents  the  race'  from  the  supply  pond  half- 
way to  the  outlet  of  the  race  into  the  creek  or  lower  pond 
Screen  C  is  open  at  each  end,  so  that  trout  from  the  creek 
below  or  the  pond  above  may  enter  freely,  it  being  an  ar- 
tificial imitation  of  a  natural  spawning-bed.     The  follow- 
ing IS  the  inventor's  description  : 

«  This  race  may  be  built  like  the  races  made  for  the  artificial 
impregnation  of  spawn  used  by  nearly  all  trout-breeders  to  en- 
tice the  trout  up  from  the  pond  to  spawn.    It  can  be  made 
of  any  length  from  10  to  60  feet,  and  from  2  to  6  feet  wide 
accordmg  to  the  number  of  trout  which  are  to  use  it,  and  the' 
amount  of  water  for  the  supply  of  the  pond.     It  should  be 
made  with  plank  sides  and  bottom,  so  tight  as  to  keep  out  all 
sediment.     Paving  the  bottom  nicely  with  small  stones  will 
answer.     The  bottom,  whether  of  plank  or  stone,  must  then 
be  covered  with  a  half-inch  layer  of  fine,  well-washed  gravel 
When  one  has  large  trout  to  spawn  in  the  race  the  water 
should  be  2  inches  deep  at  the  upper  or  supply  end,  and  15 
mches  deep  at  the  lower  end  where  it  empties  into  the  pond 
with  a  gentle  cui-rent  throughout  its  whole  length.    This  will 
give  good  spawning  depth  to  the  water  for  trout  of  all  sizes 
from  6  to  24  inches  long.     Usually  a  race  3  feet  wide,  and 
from  15  to  20  feet  long,  will  be  quite  sufiicient  for  a  pond  of 
1000  or  1800  trout.  P"«a  or 

"The  bo^tom  of  this  race  must  be  covered  with  fine  wire- 
cloth  screens,  of  about  10  meshes  to  the  inch,  made  of  zinc 
or  galvanized  wire,  so  as  not  to  corrode,  and  thus  injure  the 
spawn.  ^  Iron  wire,  if  painted,  will  answer  where  zinc  can  rot 
be  obtained.  These  wire  screens  must  be  nailed  to  wooden 
frames,  made  of  inch-square  stuff,  the  frames  to  correspond  in 
length  with  the  width  of  the  race,  and  to  be  as  wide  as  the 


Artificial  Fish  Pkopagation. 


399 


f-loth  will  permit— say  2  feet.  Strips  of  three-quarter-inch 
stuff  must  be  nailed  to  the  bottom  of  the  race  for  the  screens 
to  rest  on,  in  such  a  manner  that  they  will  be  raised  one  quar- 
ter of  an  inch  above  the  gravel  on  the  bottom.  This  ia  done 
to  give  good  circulation  to  the  water  under  the  spawn  as 
they  fall  on  to  these  wire  screens.  These  screens  must  be 
laid  the  whole  length  of  the  race,  side  by  side,  to  catch  the 
spawn  as  it  is  deposited  by  the  parent  trout. 

"Now  place  over  these  another  set  of  screens  made  of  coarse 
wire-cloth,  of  about  two  or  three  meshes  to  the  inch,  so  that 
the  spawn  will  drop  through  easily.  These  screens  must  be 
nailed  on  frames  of  the  same  length  as  the  others,  but  of  two- 
inch  stuff,  and  as  wide  as  the  cloth  will  permit.  •  These  screens 
must  be  strong  enough  to  hold  2  inches  of  well-washed  coarse 
gravel  from  three  quarters  of  an  inch  to  2  inches  in  diameter. 
They  should  be  so  large  that  there  will  be  interstices  between 
the  gravel  large  enough  to  let  the  spawn  pass  down,  if  neces- 
sary, to  the  lower  screen.  The  upper  screens  should  have  han- 
dles on  each  end  to  lift  them  by,  as  they  will  have  to  be  taken 
out  and  replaced  every  few  days  during  the  spawning  season. 

"When  these  two  sets  of  screens  are  placed  the  whole  length 
of  the  race,  and  all  is  complete,  the  water  will  pass  over  all, 
2  inches  deep  at  the  supply  end,  and  15  inches  deep  at  the 
lower  end,  with  a  moderate  current  through  the  whole  race. 
The  reader  will  perceive  by  the  description  and  diagram  that 
there  is  one  inch  of  space  between  the  two  screens  to  hold  the 
spawn  as  they  are  deposited  by  the  parent  trout,  with  a  gen- 
tle current  passing  over  and  under  them,  and  that  the  upper 
screen  prevents  the  spawn  from  being  destroyed  by  trout 
and  insects,  so  that  they  are  perfectly  safe  until  removed  to 
the  hatching-box. 

"When  the  trout  is  ready  to  spawn  she  will  enter  the  race 
from  the  pond  and  prepare  her  nest.  This  she  does  by  whip- 
ping all  the  sediment  from  the  gravel  with  her  tail,  and  then 
she  whips  or  digs  a  hole  in  the  cleansed  gravel  about  2  inches 
deep,  or  down  to  the  upper  screen,  and  about  4  inches  iu  di- 


400 


Fishing  m  Ameeican  "Watees. 


I 


wate.  in  tto  hole  with  h  s  M  .     ,     °? '  ■■'  "'^"'  ^^'»'  ""^ 

a.I  di.ec,io,.s,  so  tCthr  ^  t'  Ta  "J  *a^.\r "  "'  """''" 
screen  or  in  the  otovpI  o    i         !  *^^  ^^^^^  ^^  the 

then  remove  the  lower  ones    mrl  «o  w^         ^      *'^-^' 

raising  the  screen  „p  and  down  a  few  times  ttv  wnll  ^ 
down  through  the  interstices.     The  race  Z^f7  l     .     H 

t^e  spawn  than  hy  handh'ng,  and  no  pa^nttlT  '„!"'' 
As  sahnon  and  trout  spawn  along  at  intervals  o'^'eral 


Latest  Fish-beeeding  Impeovements.  401 

weeks,  it  is  natural  to  infer  that  all  the  eggs  do  not  mature 
at  one  time.     That  this  is  the  case  has  been  proven  by  the 
officers  of  French  fisheries.     About  the  time  when  France 
endowed  the  Institution  of  Huningue,  and  when  the  waters, 
which  had  for  many  years  remained  still  and  dead,  all  at  once 
became  enlivened  by  the  leaps  of  trout  and  the  splashings 
of  salmon,  the  "habitans"  regarded  the  sight  as  supernat- 
ural, and  an  evidence  that  Heaven  was  pleased  with  Napo- 
leon's reign.     About  this  time,  when  France  had  first  voted 
30,000  francs  for  the  advancement  of  fish-culture,  and  then  in- 
creased the  sum  to  80,000,  the  study  of  all  residents  along 
salmon-rivers  and  trout-streams  was  how  to  procure  the  eggs 
of  trout  and  fecundate  them.     They  read  all  about  Joseph 
Remy's  plan,  and  the  result  was  that  all  the  streams  WQre  rob- 
bed of  game  fishes  for  procuring  eggs  to  sell  to  the  establish- 
ment at  Huningue.    Of  course  the  poor  fishes  were  squeezed  to 
death  in  forcing  them  to  exude  immature  ova,  and  the  streams 
becoming  thereby  depeopled,  induced  the  unbelievers  in  fish- 
culture  to  set  their  faces  against  the  wanton  destruction. 
The  French  government  then  advertised  that  it  would  pur- 
chase no  more  fecundated  ova  unless  the  roe  and  milt  were 
exuded  by  employes  of  government.     Government  agents 
thereafter  were  notified  by  those  who  had  trout  ready  to 
spawn,  and  the  agents  visited  the  place,  and  took  the  ova 
only  which  was  exuded  without  pressure,  leaving  the  reso  to 
restock  their  streams.     Since  then,  water-farming  has  been 
an  uninterrupted  success. 

furman's  natural  hatching-race. 
At  Maspeth,  ia  Kings  County,  which  is  within  or  joins  the 
metropolitan  district  of  which  New  York  City  is  the  centre, 
Mr.  William  Furman  has  been  propagating  brook  trout  arti- 
ficially for  the  past  ten  years ;  and  as  he  is  a  gentleman  of 
genius,  energy,  and  means,  and,  withal,  an  excellent  fly-fisher, 
his  devotion  to  the  art  offish-culture  has  hoon  rather  for  love 
than  profit.    In  his  hatching-race  there  are  millions  of  fecun- 

Cc 


402 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


dated  ova  far  enough  advanced  to  render  their  eyes  distin- 
guishable, and  they  are  hatching  daily,  thus  proving  its  per- 
fect adaptability  to  the  objects  intended  of  hatching  and  pro- 
tecting the  eggs.  It  differs  from  that  of  Mr.  Ainsworth  in 
having  but  one  race,  with  perforated  bottom  of  zinc,  with 
three  holes  to  the  inch.  The  bottom  is  covered  with  pebbles, 
and  accessible  to  the  trout  from  his  pond  during  the  spawn- 
ing season,  when  may  be  frequently  seen  a  dozen  pairs  of 
spawners  at  a  time.  The  water  flows  gently  down  the  race, 
and  the  spawners  keep  it  constantly  agitated  throughout  the 
spawning  season,  so  that  the  fecundated  ova  falls  through  the 
pc'-^orated  zinc  bottom  to  the  bottom  of  the  stream,  which  is 
made  of  sand  and  gravel,  on  which  the  eggs  hatch. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  race  differs  from  the  Ains- 
worth one,  which  has  two  perforated  races  or  troughs  above 
the  bottom,  from  the  lower  one  of  which  the  fecundated  eggs 
are  removed  to  hatching-boxes,  while  the  Furman  race  con- 
sists of  but  one  perforated  race  or  trough,  from  which  the 
eggs  fall  to  the  bottom,  and  remain  during  the  period  of  in- 
cubation, or  until  hatched. 

I  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  illustrate  the  form  of 
the  Furman  race,  as  it  is  similar  to  the  Ainsworth  one,  onlv 
it  has  but  one  screen,  and  the  bottom  is  not  formed  of  mova- 
ble trays,  but  the  eggs  drop  to  the  bottom  of  the  stream, 
where  they  hatch  as  in  a  natural  stream,  only  that  they  are 
protected  from  destruction  by  their  parents  or  other  families 
of  the  finny  race,  which  have  no  access  to  the  compartment 
of  the  stream. 

These  imitations  of  the  natural  stream  and  spawning-beds 
are  the  latest  invention  in  American  fish-culture.  Thus  far 
they  have  proved  successful,  and  promise  to  render  unneces- 
sary the  artificial  fecundation  by  handling  the  spawner  and 
milter  for  forcing  exudation  of  the  seed.  These  plans  sim- 
plify artificial  fish-breeding,  and  promise  to  prove  a  greater 
improvement  on  the  French  grilles  and  hatching-trays  than 
were  the  latter  upon  the  troughs  with  wire-cloth  ends  placed 


The  Napoleon  Fish-hatcueb. 


403 


in  streams  to  hatch  the  fecundated  ova  by  Lieut.  Jacobi  or 
Joseph  Remy.  Messrs.  Furman  and  Ains  worth  being  both 
gentlemen  of  leisure,  who  devote  their  time  to  fish-culture 
pro  bono  publico  and  for  their  L/e  of  the  subject,  much  ben- 
efit may  therefore  be  reasonably  expected  from  their  experi- 
ments in  water-farminsr. 


"  GENERAL  DIKECTIONS,"  BY   SETII   GEEEN. 

For  the  general  management  in  propagating  salmon  and 
trout,  and  the  transportation  of  fecundated  ova  and  the  ale- 
vins,  the  following  advice,  founded  upon  successful  experi- 
ment and  entirely  reliable,  may  be  read  with  interest  by 
those  who  are  about  to  commence  fish-culture  by  artificial 
assistance : 

"Build  your  ponds  according  to  the  amount  of  water  you 
have.  If  you  have  but  little,  build  small.  The  water  should 
be  changed  every  24  or  48  hours,  and  the  oftener  it  changes 
the  better.  The  trout  can  be  very  plenty  if  they  have  suffi- 
cient fresh  water  and  food. 

"  I  can  send  ova  a  fifty  days' journey  packed  in  a  box  with 
moss.  I  place  the  moss  in  a  tin  pail,  filled  with  sawdust,  so 
that  the  spawn  will  not  feel  the  changes  of  heat  and  cold. 

'-'Directions  for  handling  the  Spawn.— V'xok.  the  moss  care- 
fully ofi"  from  the  top  of  the  spawn  Then  put  the  box  in  a 
pan  of  water  and  turn  it  nearly  bottom-side  up,  and  pick  the 
moss  out  very  carefully.  The  spawn  will  sink  to  the  bottom, 
and  you  can  pick  the  moss  out  of  the  pan.  If  there  is  a  little 
left  it  will  do  no  harm.  Then  pour  the  spawn  in  your  hatch- 
ing-trough by  holding  the  edge  of  your  pan  under  water,  and 
'  place'  them,  without  touching  the  spawn,  by  agitating  the 
water  with  the  bearded  end  of  a  feather.  The  dead  spawn 
will  turn  a  milk-white  color,  and  should  be  picked  out.  Your 
trough  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  water  will  run  in  it 
.ibout  twelve  feet  per  minute.  The  water  should  be  filtered 
by  running  through  gravel  or  cloth  screens  to  prevent  the 
sediment  from  reaching  the  spawn.     I  run  about  one  inch  of 


404 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


water  over  my  spawn,  and  if  any  sediment  gets  on  them  and 
is  allowed  to  remain  there  long,  it  will  surely  kill  them.  Re- 
move all  sediment  with  the  bearded  end  of  a  quill  by  ao-ita- 
ting  the  water,  without  touching  the  spawn. 

"  Large  ponds  with  but  little  water  get  too  warm  in  sum- 
mer and  too  cold  in  winter  for  trout  to  do  well.  It  is  detri- 
mental to  have  any  other  fish  with  trout.  Any  kind  of  fish 
or  fish-spawn  is  good  for  feed.  The  young  should  be  fed 
twice  per  day,  very  slowly ;  if  fed  fast,  the  feed  sinks  and  be- 
fouls the  trough,  and  the  trout  will  sicken  and  die.  If  fed 
regularly,  and  the  trough  kept  clean,  with  a  good  change  of 
water,  and  not  kept  too  thick,  they  will  live  and  do  well.  If 
neglected,  they  will  surely  die. 

"  What  is  Death  to  SiMwn.—The  sun,  sediment,  rats,  mice, 
snails,  crawfish,  and  many  water  insects. 

"My  troughs  are  25  feet  long  and  15  inches  wide.  The 
water  that  feeds  each  trough  would  go  through  a  half-inch 
hole  with  a  three-inch  head.  Use  fine  gravel  that  has  no  iron 
rust  in  it.  My  troughs  are  three  inches  higher  at  the  head. 
The  average  temperature  of  the  water  is  45°,  and  the  fish 
hatch  in  70  days.  Every  degree  oolder  or  warmer  will  make 
about  six  days  difierence  in  hatching.  Trout  hatch  the  soon- 
est in  warm  water.  The  sack  on  their  bellies  sustains  them 
for  40  or  45  days  after  hatching ;  then  they  need  food. 

"  When  the  fish  are  hatched,  raise  the  water  in  the  troughs 
about  four  or  five  inches  by  putting  on  a  piece  of  boaid  of 
that  width  on  every  cross-piece,  thus  keeping  the  fish  sepa- 
rate—about an  equal  number  in  each  square.  If  you  have 
small  streams  of  shallow  water  near  the  head  of  your  pond, 
put  a  few  in  a  place  in  the  stream  and  pond,  and  they  will 
take  care  of  themselves  better  than  you  can.  The  object  of 
distributing  them  is  that  they  will  get  more  food.  All  old 
streams  and  ponds  have  plenty  of  food  for  small  trout  and 
large,  which  you  will  find  by  examining  the  moss,  sticks,  and 
stones  in  your  ponds  and  streams,  as  they  are  full  of  water- 
insects. 


Amusement  foe  Ladies. 


405 


"  The  fish,  after  hatching,  should  be  fed  twice  daily  for  two 
or  three  months,  then  once  a  day— the  grown  fish  once  a  day 
or  oftener.  For  the  young  fish,  liver  should  be  scraped  and 
chopped  very  fine,  and  mixed  with  water,  to  give  it  about  the 
consistency  of  clotted  blood.  Toss  this  to  the  fish  a  little  H 
a  time,  so  that  they  can  catch  and  devour  it  before  it  reaches 
the  bottom  of  the  trough ;  no  more  should  be  given  than  the 
fish  will  eat,  because  if  any  is  left  it  will  settle  on  the  bottom 
and  foul  the  water,  and  the  fish  will  sicken  and  die.  The  fish 
may  be  fed  on  curds,  fish  offal,  or  other  animal  matter,  pro- 
vided it  be  small  enough  for  them  to  swallow.' 


?H 


EVERT  FARMER  SHOULD  HAVE  A  TROUT  PRESERVE. 

From  a  perusal  of  the  foregoing  descriptions  for  breeding 
salmon  and  trout  by  the  most  celebrated  and  successful  fish- 
culturists,  it  will  be  perceived  that  they  do  not  differ  much 
in  the  modus  operandi.    Nearly  every  farmer  has  a  spring 
on  his  place  yielding  surplus  water  sufficient  to  hatch  trout 
in  boxes.     If  he  does  not  wish  to  go  to  much  expense  in 
erecting  a  dam  to  form  a  preserve,  he  might  at  least  hatch 
the  trout  in  boxes  and  sell  them,  for  they  are  as  ready  sale  as 
any  product  of  a  farm.    Mr.  Amsworth,  of  Bloomfield,  N.  Y., 
said :  "  The  original  stock  (of  trout)  was  put  in  my  pond,  con- 
taining 61  square  rods  of  ground,  14  feet  deep,  supplied  with 
springs,  three  years  ago,  1400  in  number,  age  from  1  to  4 
years.    They  weigh  now  from  1  to  3  pounds  each.     They  are 
about  as  tame  as  kittens — come  at  call,  and  show  themselves 
clear  out  of  water  in  their  haste  for  food  by  the  five  hundred 
at  a  time,  and  some  take  it  out  of  a  spoon  six  inches  above 
the  water.     Think  of  seeing  five  hundred  trout  all  at  the 
same  instant,  weighing  from  1  to  3  pounds,  and  from  12  to  18 
inches  long !" 

A  two-pound  trout  will  furnish  about  8000  spawn,  smaller 
ones  less  in  proportion.  They  commence  spawning  when  one 
year  old. 

In  this  way  they  can  be  increased  and  grown  to  any  ex- 


406 


Fishing  in  AaiEEicAN  Waters. 


tent,  and  all  the  ponds  and  streams  in  the  country  stocked  to 
overflowing. 

We  conclude  with  the  statement  of  both  hope  and  confi- 
dence that  the  reader  will  find  fish-breeding  in  boxes  so  sim- 
ple and  sure  that  he  will  at  once  prepare  to  engage  in  the 
interesting  and  profitable  occupation. 


'  ! 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS. 

Upon  the  breeding-times  of  different  fishes,  and  their  re- 
sorts at  certain  seasons  in  the  year  to  hibernate,  there  is  no 
fixed  data.  "We  know  that  eels  spawn  in  salt  waters  if  they 
have  access  to  them,  and  visit  fresh  waters  to  recuperate  and 
fatten.  On  the  other  hand,  salmon  seek  the  heads  of  rivers 
to  spawn,  and  resort  to  unknown  marine  pastures  to  gain 
strength  and  fatten. 

Most  white-meated  fishes  spawn  in  the  spring,  yet  the  fish 
known  as  the  whitejish  spawns  in  early  autumn.  All  mem- 
bers of  the  genus  Salmo  spawn  in  autumn. 

The  striped  bass,  with  which  our  anglers  on  the  rivers  en- 
tering the  coast  are  as  familiar  as  with  any  other  game  fish, 
spawns  at  indefinite  periods.  It  is  known  that  in  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay  it  spawns  in  spring;  that  in  the  estuaries  and 
buys  near  New  York  and  along  the  coast  of  Long  Island  it 
begins  spawning  in  April  and  continues  until  July.  The  late 
Judge  Morris  and  myself  were  once  trolling  in  Hell  Gate  in 
September,  and  suspecting  that  a  striped  bass  which  we  had 
taken  contained  ova  in  an  advanced  otage,  we  had  the  fish 
eviscerated,  when  the  ova  was  discovered  to  be  nearly  ma- 
ture. Striped  bass  taken  in  the  Vineyard  Sound  in  autumn 
are  frequently  found  to  be  big  with  roe  nearly  ready  to  drop. 
These  facts  present  questions  for  solution  by  ichthyologists. 
Do  striped  bass — like  the  hens — continue  laying  for  several 
months  ?    Or  do  they  lay  twice  a  year — spring  and  fall  ? 

Both  the  flounder  and  plaice,  or  fluke,  spawn  in  winter. 
Smelt  spawn  at  intervals  from  February  until  April. 


The  Emperok  leads  in  ]*ee8on. 


407 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SALMON-PASSES,  LADDERS,  ETC. 

^.AViNG  studied  ancient  aquaculture 
and  fish-culture,  and  examined  the 
modus  operandi  for  water-farming, 
with  its  profits  a  thousand -fold 
greater  than  those  from  cultivating 
the  soil,  the  reader  will  have  ar- 
rived at  the  threshold  of  an  im- 
provement as  necessary  as  are  all 
the  previously-named  operations. 

One  of  the  most  important  ques- 
tions of  the  day  in  reference  to  the 
fresh-water  fisheries  of  the  United 
States — especially  to  those  devoted 
to  the  propagation  of  salmon  and 
trout — is  how  to  expand  and  devel- 
op them  to  the  gioatest  extent,  so 
as  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible 
with  existing  arrangements  as  to 
mills  and  proprietary  rights.  That 
the  salmon  should  breed,  it  is  ab- 
solutely indispensable  that  it  should  be  able  to  reach  the 
heights  and  shallow  portions  of  rivers,  which  alone  afford 
suitable  gravel-beds  for  the  operation  of  depositing  the  ova 
and  rearing  the  young.  If  it  can  not  get  to  these,  the  breed 
of  salmon  is  soon  extinguished,  and  this  has  been  the  cause 
of  its  extinction  in  ninety-nine  rivers  out  of  every  hundred. 
Mill-dams,  those  terrible  enemies  to  the  salmon,  are  the  prin- 
cipal offenders  in  this  respect.  Commercial  and  manufactur- 
ing interests  being  almost  too  strong  for  the  salmon,  the 


408 


Fishing  in  Ameeioan  Waters. 


I    ! 


question  which  has  been  agitating  the  minds  of  the  most  en- 
lightened pisciculturists  of  the  age  for  years  has  been,  H5w 
we  can  best  contrive  that  the  fish  shall  have  a  free  passage 
up  the  rivers,  in  order  to  continue  its  species  without  any  loss 
of  water-power  or  profits  on  the  part  of  the  mill  owners  ?    If 
we  can  show  them  that  this  is  possible,  we  have  a  natural 
right  to  compel  those  who  have  blocked  up  our  rivers  for 
their  own  profit  to  give  the  fish  a  free  passage  as  a  public 
benefit.     The  very  best  passage  through  a  dam  is  an  open 
run  by  means  of  a  good  wide  pass  in  the  centre  of  the  dam, 
or,  at  any  rate,  in  such  part  of  it  as  will  easily  be  found  by 
the  salmon,  in  showers,  when  the  water-power  is  generally 
more  than  enough  for  the  requirements  of  the  mill  and  fac- 
tory.   There  can  be  no  great  difticulty  about  this  (proper  re- 
gard, of  course,  being  paid  to.  the  stability  of  the  dam),  ex- 
cept on  rivers  where  the  power  is  at  all  deficient,  when  con- 
trivances, such  as  ladders,  etc.,  etc.,  are  needed  to  prevent  the 
waste  of  any  of  the  water-power.     It  is  true  that  salmon  can 
jump  up  a  fall  of  considerable  height.     Indeed,  salmon  have 
been  known  tc  T)artly  jump  and  partly  swim  up  falls  of  ten 
or  twelve  feet  in  height,  and  even  much  more ;  but  the  ca- 
pability requires  certain  condi'  .jns  for  its  performance,  and 
chief  of  all  these  is  a  good  deep  pool  at  the  foot  of  the  fall 
or  dam  as  a  starting-place,  and  the  more  arched  or  slanting 
out  of  the  perpendicular  the  fall  is,  the  easier  the  salmon  will 
surmount  it.     It  used  formerly  to  be  supposed  that  a  salmon 
jumped  out  of  the  water  in  the  way  that  mites  aiai  seen  to 
jump  in  a  rotten  cheese,  viz.,  by  putting  the  tail  to  the  mouth, 
and  then,  by  the  exertion  of  a  sudden  effort  of  muscular  ex- 
pansion, forcing  its  broad  tail  to  act  upon  the  water  so  as  to 
shoot  the  fish  ahead.     This  is  now  known  to  be  fallacious,  as 
it  is  seen  that  the  salmon  is  quite  powerless  to  leap  any  dam 
when  the  waters  at  the  foot  of  the  dam  are  shallow;  and  it 
is  known  that  salmon  leap  like  all  other  animals   (except 
cheese-mites),  viz.,  by  acquiring  the  utmost  attainable  veloc- 
ity by  means  of  a  run,  and  then,  by  a  sudden  and  powerful 


How  Salmon  and  Tkout  Leap. 


409 


spring,  giving  the  impetus.  This  spring  must  be  made,  of 
course,  by  the  assistance  of  every  fin  that  can  aid  it,  but  chief- 
ly by  a  strong  stroke  of  the  tail.  Unfortunately,  however, 
the  majority  of  mill-dams  are  so  spread  out  across  rivers 
that  the  water  runs  over  them  in  the  thinnest  possible  sheet, 
and  the  soundness  of  the  dam  requires  a  foundation  on  the 
lower  face.  This  foundation  is  assisted  and  protected  by  a 
wooden  sheathing  called  the  apron,  and  this  is  placed  as  near 
the  surface  of  the  water  as  possible,  and  extends  down  stream 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  below  the  dam,  so  that  the  under- 
standing  of  the  dam  may  not  be  undermined ;  and  thus  it 
constantly  occurs  that  while  the  pool  below  the  dam  is  of 
great  depth  and  capacity,  yet  it  only  forms  a  sort  of  reservoir 
for  the  fish,  which  tlie  ownor  of  the  dam  catches  at  his  lei- 
sure, the  fish  being  unable  to  approach  the  dam  even  so  as  to 
swim  or  pass  over  it ;  and  a  dam  of  this  sort,  if  only  thi'^e  or 
four  feet  high,  would  be  as  impassable  to  salmon  as  if  it  were 
four  times  that  height.-  A  salmon  will  scull  up  a  pretty  swift 
stream  that  does  not  perhaps  cover  his  back,  so  long  as  his 
tail  and  pectoral  fins,  which  are  the  propelling  power,  are  im- 
mersed,* provided  in  such  waters  he  is  not  called  upon  to 
make  a  perpendicular  jump.  This  he  can  not  do  without  a 
run  to  start  him.  in  considerable  depths,  for  a  short  space, 
a  salmon  can  force  his  way  through  extremely  rapid  and 
heavy  waters,  but  there  are  limits  to  this  capability ;  and  the 
difficult^/  ichich  jyi'Sciculturists  labor  under  is  the  ascertaining 
what  weight  or  rapiditg  oficater  a  salmon  can  stem.  Some 
salmoij,  of  course,  can  stem  a  stronger  torrent  than  others,  but 
the  problem  must  be  taken  as  applicable  to  the  weakest  fish, 
not  the  strongest,  inasmuch  as  the  object  is  chiefly  to  per- 
mit the  passage  of  female  fish  very  heavily  laden  with  ova. 
A  female  fish,  full  of  eggs,  carries  something  like  a  fourth  of 
its  own  entire  weight  in  that  commodity,  and  unless  suchjish 

*  The  tail  is  the  most  important  organ  in  this  proceeding,  the  fins  being 
used  chiefly  for  balancing  and  steering  the  fish,  though  they  all  aid  propul- 
sion on  unusual  occasions  calling  for  great  and  sudden  effort. 


410 


Fishing  in  American  "Waters. 


are  let  itp,  there  is  little  tise  in  letting  tlie  others  up.  Therefon! 
the  easier  these  passages  (of  whatever  kind  they  may  be)  are 
made  for  the  salmon,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  fishery. 

Now  it  has  been  ascertained  that  a  slope  of  one  in  seven 
or  eight  is  very  near  the  extreme  of  steepness  which  a  strong 
Halmon  can  make  his  way  through — that  is,  for  any  distance. 
It  may  be  that  by  a  sudden  effort  of  the  tail, /or  a  yard  or 
two^  he  can  flhoot  almost  any  thing,  but  when  he  has  been  a 
dozen  yards  or  more  of  such  gradient,  unless  he  can  .somehow 
obtain  a  fresh  starting-point,  the  effort  fails,  and  the  ii;=ii  is 
driven  back  by  the  weight  of  the  stream. 

Therefore  it  is  desirable,  in  all  passes  which  are  long  or 
full-steep,  to  have  a  resting-place,  or  a  quiet  pool  whence  the 
salmon  can  take  wind  and  make  a  fresh  start.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  lay  down  any  definite  rule  for  the  construction  of  all 
fish-passes,  since  the  architect  must  be  governed  by  the  facil- 
ities or  difticulties  presented  by  the  dam  or  fall,  and  probably 
few  dams  should  be  treated  precisely  the  same.  Various 
methods  have  been  employed  where  the  water  at  the  pool  be- 
low the  dam  is  too  shallow  to  offer  the  fish  a  good  start  to 
leap  the  obstruction.  One  of  the  first  and  most  simple  plans 
constructed  on  the  New  England  and  Canadian  rivers  was  a 
series  of  leaps  from  pool  to  pool,  wnth  a  small  dam  thrown 
across  the  stream  below  in  order  to  raise  the  water  enough 
to  give  the  salmon  a  start. 

A  stone  pier  is  erected  above  the  fall  to  break  the  ice  in 
spring,  and  to  check  the  force  of  the  timbers  and  the  heavy 
debris  of  the  stream  during  "   iiv^  freshets. 

On  small  streams,  a  rough  c  >,.  oi'big  bou^i^.ers,  logs,  etc., 
has  been  made  a  few  yardt  '1}q\o<^  ihd  existing  one;  this  will 
probably  be  almost  half  the  height  of  the  other,  and  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  get  over.  It  returns  the  water  against 
the  lower  face  of  the  original  dam,  and  so  makes  that  much 
easier,  and  by  making  a  pool  between  them  of  some  depth,  it 
gives  the  fish  the  start  it  requires.  This,  on  small  streams, 
has  been  found  very  effective,  and  can  not  in  the  least  affect 


Stone  Pier  to  peotect  Structure. 


411 


Salmon  Leaps. 


the  mill-power;  but  upon  large  r>ers  the  plan  is  impracti- 
cable. The  same  principle  can  be  applied  to  a  pass  which  is 
imperfect,  and  it  has  been  found  to  answer.  A  curving  pier 
has  been  built  cut  from  the  dam  below,  so  that  the  water 
falling  over  the  dam  is  thrown  back  by  it,  and  though  it  is 
open  at  one  end,  yet  it  passes  far  enough  across  the  bed  of 
the  river  just  below  the  fall  to  so  raise  the  water  that  fish 
get  a  start  to  leap  the  dam.  To  increase  the  depth  of  water 
between  this  pier  and  the  dam,  a  large  beam  of  wood,  in  slant- 
ing direction  from  the  top  of  the  dam  to  the  pier,  conducts  a 
wide  sheet  of  water  from  the  top  of  the  dam  to  between  the 
dam  and  the  pier.  This  method  for  a  salmon-leap  can  not 
injure  the  water-power.  In  all  cases,  the  importance  of  such 
vital  means  of  assistance  to  the  salmon  requires  that  the  arch- 


412 


Fishing  in  Asieeican  Watees. 


itect  should  be  a  man  of  natural  genius  as  well  as  learning 
m  his  profession,  and  bo,  Avithal,  a  good  angler,  or  know  the 
habits  of  his  client. 

When  the  mill-power  is  of  so  much  consequence  that  no 
water  can  be  wasted,  and  if  the  fall  be  great,  a  fish-ladder  is 
mdispensable.    Fish-ladders  were  first  invented  by  Mr.  Smith 
of  Deanston,  in  England,  and  were  employed  by  him  very 
successfully,  and  the  great  secret  of  his  success  was  in  the 
easy  gradient  which  he  gave  them.     His  original  plan  was 
something  like  a  fall  of  one  foot  in  twenty;  but  so  easy  a 
gradient  as  this  greatly  lengthens  the  ladder,  and  adds  verv 
argely  to  the  expense.    The  chief  object  of  all  ladders  should 
be  to  deliver  the  water  they  carry  to  the  spot  where  the  fish 
are  most  likely  to  find  it  and  to  use  it.     This  is,  in  all  dams 
close  to  the  foot  of  the  dam,  and  as  near  as  may  be  conven- 
ient to  the  strong  main  stream.     If  the  foot  of  the  ladder 
should  be  carried  too  far  down  the  stream  below  the  dam 
the  fish  which  are  at  the  foot  ot  the  dam  will  be  so  far  above 
the  entrance  to  the  ladder  that  they  will  not  find  it;  and  if 
It  be  in  some  wide  eddy  or  part  of  the  stream  lohere  U  might 
be  more  emy  to  construct  the  ladder,  the  fish  will  not  go  to 
that  part,  out  of  the  main  stream,  to  seek  it.     When  it  is 
necessary,  by  reason  of  the  height  of  the  dam,  to  have  a  long 
ladder,  it  should  be  turned  in  the  middle  like  a  double  pair 
of  stairs,  with  a  landing  or  pool  halfway,  so  as  to  deliver  the 
water  close  to  the  foot  of  the  dam.    The  far-famed  fish-lad- 
der atBallysadare,  in  Ireland,  is  made  upon  this  principle,  and 
by  the  aid  of  it  salmon  mai  age  to  surmount  a  fall  above 'thir- 
ty feet  in  height.     The   opposite   engraving  will  show  the 
principle. 

A  stone  pier  above  the  entrance  of  the  water  to  the  ladder, 
as  at  D,is  essential  in  American  waters  to  protect  the  ladder 
from  the  ice  and  the  terrific  debris  of  spring  floods.  The  sal- 
mon are  all  turning  their  pretty  noses  toward  the  ladder,  and 
many  of  them  are  ascending.  They  must  think  the  Irish  a 
kind  people  to  have  erjc^ed  such  a  convenience  for  them. 


Eesult  of  Study  and  Genius. 


413 


Ballysadake  Salmon-pass. 

The  steps  in  the  ladder  extend  three  fourths  its  width,  leav- 
ing the  stream  and  eddies  represented.  Tliis  sketch  illus- 
trates a  very  important  principle,  Avhich  can  be  varied  at 
pleasure.  The  gradient  of  a  salmon-ladder  sliould  really  not 
be  less  than  1  in  9  or  10,  and  1  in  12  is  better  still.  The 
chaml>crs  between  the  steps  are  greatly  improved  if  the  bot- 
tom—instead of  being  all  upon  the  same  slope  as  the  gen- 
oral  gradient  of  the  ladder-is  broken  into  steps,  «o  that  the 
water  is  deeper  immediately  behind  the  steps,  or  little  steps 


ni 


1   l^ 


414 


Fishing  in  American  "Watees. 


or  falls  formed  at  the  passage  past  the  steps.  Indeed,  if  it 
be  practicable,  the  more  the  chambers  are  hollowed  out,  so 
as  to  deepen  the  water  as  much  as  possible  in  places,  and 
thus  to  break  and  deaden  the  force  of  the  stream,  the  better. 
Excellent  results  have  been  obtained  by  this  arrangement. 
Of  course  this  adds  somewhat  to  the  expense,  but  people 
should  consider  rent  when  they  are  making  a  salmon-fishery, 
which,  if  it  is  made,  may  in  all  probability  be  worth  a  very 
large  sum  of  money  annually,  to  risk  the  loss  of  which  for 
the  want  of  any  little  precaution,  which  may  cost  but  a  very 
trifling  sum  comparatively,  is  veiy  bad  economy,  and  hence 
every  possible  chance  should  be  given  to  the  fish. 

Salmon-ladders  can  be  made  of  wood,  but  they  ai-e  far  bet- 
ter of  stone,  being  less  liaole  to  destruction  or  damage.  It 
is  a  question,  however,  whether  a  salmon-ladder  could  not  be 
better  and  more  cheaply  made  and  put  together  of  iron. 
Such  a  structure  might  be  supported  very  easily  and  firmly 
by  means  of  light  iron  piles  driven  into  the  head  of  the  river 
below  the  dam,  and  made  in  lengths  which  could  be  bolted 
on  to  the  dam  and  riveted  together,  much  easier  than  stone 
or  mason's  work  can  be  secured. 

Among  other  passes,  there  is  one  which  is  perhaps  better 
suited  to  a  natural  fall,  though  it  was  in  use  formerly  upon 
navigable  rivers,  where  locks  and  damst  were  placed  to  suit 
the  navigator.  This  was  an  artificial  cut,  coming  into  the 
river  at  the  foot  of  the  dam,  but  let  out  of  the  river  some  dis- 
tance above  it,  so  as  to  make  the  ascent,  which  is  broken  by 
the  dam,  gradual  and  easy.  There  are  many  contrivances 
for  helping  fish  surmount  falls  and  dams,  and  they  vary  con- 
siderably, accordino:  to  the  nature  and  position  of  the  ob- 
struction ;  so  that,  while  it  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  gen- 
eral rule  of  construction  for  all,  yet  the  principle  that  a  cer- 
tain depth  and  head  of  water  is  reserved  for  the  passage  of 
the  fish,  and  that  no  fall  of  water  up  which  a  salmon  has  to 
pass  should  have  a  greater  incline  than  1  in  9  or  10,  are  those 
by  which  alone  the  construction  can  be  guided. 


Plain  Staibs  foe  Short  Eises. 


415 


The  Sligo  ISalmon-stairs. 

These  stairs,  of  heavy  timbers  and  mason-work,  are  intend- 
ed to  assist  salmon  and  trout  up  small  natural  falls  or  dams, 
and  for  such  object  are  highly  successful.  A  dam  may  be 
necessary  across  tlie  stream  a  few  rods  below,  so  as  to  deepen 
the  water  below  the  fall,  and  give  the  fish  a  swimming  start. 
The  height  of  this  sub-dam  should  be  three  feet,  and  the 
whole  work  well  considered,  and  designed  with  much  atten- 
tion to  the  gradient,  depth  of  water,  and  place  for  the  foot  of 
the  ladder. 

The  most  important  American  ladder  is  the  one  adopted 
by  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  a  sketch  of  which  will  be  found 
on  the  following  page. 


4:16  Fishing  in  Amehicaij  Waters. 

6 


! 


Canadian  Salmon-stairs. 

Pi'K.  1.  Stone  Pier  to  protect  the  Dam.    2.  Plank  and  spike  Dam,  stone  fonndatlon. 
3.  Bed  of  the  Pass  or  Stairs.    4.  Entrance  to  the  Pass.    5.  Egieaa  from  the  Pass. 


Stairs  foe  the  Fikst  .  Families. 


417 


This  pass  is  built  into  the  dam,  and  constructed  of  heavy 
timbers  filled  in  with  stone,  or  all  of  solid  masonry.  It  is  in- 
tended to  be  strong  enough  to  resist  and  break  up  the  acres 
of  thick  ice,  and  to  prevent  the  huge  trees  swept  down  the 
stream  by  the  spring  freshets  from  injuring  any  material  part 
of  the  structure,  which  is  so  strongly  erected,  and  of  such 
lieavy  material,  and  imbedded  so  firmly,  as  to  strengthen  the 
dam  of  which  it  forms  so  important  a  part. 

Fig.  6  is  the  ground  plan,  and  7  the  side  elevation,  with 
dotted  line  showing  the  bed  of  the  pass,  and  with  the  ends  of 
the  steps  indicated  by  8  and  9. 

The  whole  subject  of  passes  and  ladders  is  of  extreme  im- 
portance to  our  fisheries,  and  it  is  one  which  calls  for  the 
closest,  most  patient,  and  most  scientific  investigation ;  for  if 
fish  are  not  allowed  to  reach  their  breeding-places,  it  is  use- 
less to  look  for  salmon;  and  the  difficulty  is  how  to  deal  with 
the  vested  rights  of  mill-dams,  etc.,  so  as  not  to  arouse  the 
opposition  of  the  manufacturing  sections. 

The  following  account  of  foreign  experience  tells  with 
equal  force  in  America  : 

"I  watched  the  fish  with  a  race-glass  for  some  ten  minutes 
before  disturbing  them,  anxious  to  observe  v/hat  Nature  was 
teaching  me.  There  is  a  very  deep  pool  at  the  point  where 
the  waterfall  joins  the  lower  level  of  the  water.  The  fish 
came  out  of  this  pool  into  the  air  with  the  velocity  of  an  ar- 
row; they  gave  no  warning  or  notice  of  their  intentions,  but 
up  they  came,  and  darted  out  of  the  surface  of  the  water  with 
a  sudden  rush,  like  rockets  let  loose  from  the  darkness  of  the 
night  into  the  space  above.  When  they  first  appeared  in  the 
air  their  tails  were  going  with  the  velocity  of  n  watch-spring 
just  broken,  and  the  whole  body,  sparkling  it  though  they 
had  been  enameled,  was  quivering  with  the  exertion.  They 
looked  as  much  like  flying-fish  as  ever  I  saw  any  thing  in  my 
life.  As  they  ascended  their  tails  left  off  quivering,  for  these 
tails  were  machmes  made  to  act  on  water,  and  not  wings  to 
act  on  air.     Their  course  was  somewhat  trajectory  in  form 

Dd 


1- 


«, 


I 


llll 


11 
~  Pi 


l^i 


1  i 


418 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


but  not  so  much  as  I  should  have  expected.  Not  one  single 
fish,  alas !  did  I  see  get  over;  some  of  them  jumped  into  the 
body  of  the  waterfall,  and  were  hurled  violently  back  into  the 
pool,  like  the  pictures  we  see  of  soldiers  of  old  thrown  down 
headlong  from  the  ramparts  of  a  besieged  city.  Other  fish 
would  put  on  more  steam,  and  were  in  consequence  carried 
by  their  own  impetus  right  through  the  sheet  of  water,  dash- 
ing themselves  with  the  force  of  a  cricket-ball  ai^ainst  the 
solid  wall  which  formed  the  weir.  These  also,  poor  things ! 
fell  back  into  the  pool  half  stunned,  and  with  cut  and  bruised 
noses.  While  the  bigger  fish  were  making  these  strenuous 
efl:brts  to  ascend,  their  smaller  companions  were  jumping  dis- 
tances more  or  less  high  up  into  the  falling  water.  Many 
had  evidently  given  it  up  for  a  bad  job,  and  were  swimming 
about  with  their  little  black  noses  projecting  out  of  the  white 
boiling  water,  doubtless  crying  out,  '  We  can't  get  up,  we 
can't  get  up.  Cruel  miller  to  put  the  weir.  Do  what  you 
can  for  us.'  'Wait  a  bit,  my  dear  fish,'  I  said;  'the  Duke 
of  Northumberland  is  a  kind  man,  and  he  is  going  to  make  a 
ladder  for  you ;  the  plans  are  nearly  settled,  and  you  shall 
then  jump  for  joy,  and  not  for  pain.  In  the  mean  time  read 
this,'  So  I  pinned  a  lai'ge  piece  of  paper  on  the  weir,  which 
read  thus:  'Notice  to  salmon  and  bull-trout — no  road  at 
present  over  this  weir.  Go  down  stream,  take  the  first  turn 
to  the  right,  and  you  will  find  good  traveling  water  up  stream, 
and  no  jumping  required.' " 

Passes  for  trout  over  common  dams  may  be  accomplished 
by  building  a  tumbling  dam,  so  that  the  fish  may  surmount 
it  by  small  leaps.  That  common  fish  should  ascend  dams  is 
as  important  as  that  trout  and  salmon  should,  for  the  com- 
mon fish  and  their  roe  form  food  for  the  game  fish.  Smelts, 
herrings,  moss-bunkers,  chub,  dace,  spearing,  caplin,  sardines, 
launces,  etc.,  are  made  as  subsistence  for  salmon  and  trout, 
and  the  stairs  and  passes  should  be  so  graduated  as  to  enable 
them  to  pass  up  and  procreate  their  generations. 

In  propagating  trout,  it  is  frequently  necessary  that  they 


A  Limit  to  the  Ambitious. 


419 


a  cer- 


should  be  prevented  from  running  up  a  stream  beyond 

tarn  point;  hence  the  following  screen  is  intended  to  prevent 

them  from  leaping  a  small  cascade. 


The  Horizontal  Sckeen. 

This  may  be  constructed  of  horizontal  bars  placed  three 
inches  apart,  instead  of  lattice-work ;  or  it  may  be  of  copper 
wire. 


The  Current  Wheel. 


This  wheel  will  prevent  fish  from  passing  up  stream,  while 
the  horizontal  screen  allows  the  passage  of  floating  food. 

Concluding  that  enough  information  has  been  laid  before 
the  student  for  enabling  him  to  begin  fish-farming  and  pur- 
sue It  with  success,  I  will  therefore  proceed  to  another  topic. 


r4ii 


'  Jlart   iTiftlj. 


A  GLIMPSE   OF   ICHTHYOLOGY 


CHAPTER  I. 
A  GLIMPSE  OF  ICHTHYOLOGY. 

LL^rI'SE8  at  the  sciences  ave 
generally  worse   than 
superfluous,  and    to 
"drink  deep  or  taste 
not"  is  the  true  ad- 
vice; but  the  angler 
and  the  general  fisher- 
man  may  find  it  an 
advantage    to    know 
enough    of  ichthyolo- 
gy to  qualify  them  for 
correctly  describing 
the    fish    they   catch, 
and  it  is  for  this  ob- 
ject that  the  following  "glimpse"  is  submitted.     The  speci- 
men of  the  pike-perch,  being  the  fish  known  in  Ohio  and 
some  other  states  of  the  West  as  the  salmon,  is  presented  for 
teaching  the  names  of  fins. 


The  Comsion  ViKE-i'Encu.—Lucioperca  Americana. 
In  describing  a  fish,  the  size,  form,  and  color  are  given— 
the  number,  character,  and  position  of  the  fins  — and  fre- 


424 


Fishing  in  Amkrican  Waters. 


(Iticntly  the  shape  and  character  of  the  scales,  the  character 
of  the  gills,  and  the  number  of  the  gill-openings. 

The  most  important  and  easily  recognized  of  these  features 
are  thQ  /ins ;  and  in  describing  them  the  names  are  given, 
and  the  number  of  spmea  or  rays  in  each. 

FIRST  CLASS  OF  FISHES. 

SPINE-RAYED  BONY  FISHES.     {Acanthopterygii.) 


ed  Diploprioii,  Diploprion  bifamatum.  8.  One-Hpottetl  Mesopriou,  Meaoprion  uninit- 
taUts.  !).  Ruby-colored  Eteli.«,  Etdis  earbunndm.  10.  Armed  Enoplossu.a,  Enoplos- 
»ns  armatus.  11.  Lettered  Serranus,  ^erranus  ncriba.  12.  Spiued  Serrauus,  Serranus 
anthias.    13.  Red  Surmullet,  Mullus  barbatm. 

THE   PERCH   FAMILY.       (CtenOlds.) 

The  spine -rayed  bony  fishes  comprise  more  than  three 
fourths  of  all  the  various  kinds  that  are  known.  From  four- 
teen to  seventeen  different  families,  some  of  them  embracing 
several  hundred  species  each,  have  been  included  in  this  di- 
vision. At  the  head  of  the  whole  stands  the  Perch  family, 
the  most  numerous  of  all.     Most  of  them  are  salt-water  fisli 


Aldermen  and  Police. 


425 


but  about  one  fifth  of  the  whole  number  inhabit  fresh-water 
atreains,  or  occasionally  ascend  them  from  the  sea. 


Si-alt  IP/'  liic/iea. 


^Fni^^,i  'if/J  K^^ZJ"''''^  P«)rgee,  Ejthmms  fnber.    4.  The  Sheq  shend  (famed  foi- 
ls exquisite  flesh)  ,SV<^2"«  o^''"-    »•  Streaked  or  Rock  Gurnard,  Tri,,la  Uneata.    «  Ax 

H^  w  Ifl  ^^''n"  "?  f't  representative  of  the  family  of  the  Mainren,  which  includ"-* 
pur  WeakflsS,  Corvinas/.he  Ohul),  Kingfl^h,  and  the  I>rHr«,  the  latter  noted  for  th,. 
loud  drunirniug  noise  whth  it  makes,  and  the  cause  of  which  is  still  amys  cry  )  8 
Common  Mackerel,  vScomftir  scomfitf.  'o  Di,uittuijbn.ry.j    b. 

The  several  species  of  the  Pilot-fish,  of  which  so  many  cu- 
rious stories  have  been  told,  also  belong  to  the  Mackerel  fam- 
ily. The  ancient  naturalists  asserted  that  the  common  pilot- 
fish,  which  is  a  pretty  litUo  fish  about  a  foot  in  length,  joins 
company  with  the  tempest-tossed  bark  of  the  anxious  mar- 
iner, indicates  to  him  his  nearest  course  to  land,  and  leaves 
him  as  soon  as  it  has  fulfilled  this  kind  office. 

Others,  with  much  reason,  ieny  this  assertion,  and  allege 
that  the  pilot,  like  the  shark,  ftllows  vessels  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  a  share  of  the  gaibage  which  may  be  thrown 
overboard.  Certain,  however,  it  is,  that  their  perseverance 
in  this  respect  is  very  singular,  as  is  narrated  in  the  case  of 
an  Englisli  vessel  which  was  accoapanied  by  two  pilot-fish 


ill* 


^fl 


426 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Scale  of  Feet. 

during  its  entire  voyage  of  eighty  days  from  Alexandria,  in 
the  Mediterranean,  to  Plymouth. 

It  is  a  current  opinion  among  sailor?  that  this  fish  acts  a 
pilot's  part  to  the  shark,  and  accorapajiies  and  befriends  it  as 


The  Pilot-fish,— iVawcm^es  ductor. 


opportunity  offers;  and  cerftinly  there  is  a  great  amount  of 
evidence  which  goes  to  stow  that  there  is  something  very 
much  like  a  confiding  farotliarity  between  these  two  compan- 
ions of  the  weary  mariier.     Numerous  well  -  authenticated 


/ 


/ 


* 


The  Fate  to  Purvey  for  Others. 


427 

cases  like  that  which  we  quote  from  Cuvier,  respecting  the 
habits  of  this  fish,  might  be  given. 

With  the  ancients,  however,  as  described  by  their  poets, 
this  little  fish  was  the  faithful  companion  of  the  whale  in- 
stead of  the  shark ;  and  Oppian  thus  alludes  to  the  services 
which  these  pigmy  pilots  render  to  their  unwieldy  associates : 

"  Bold  in  the  front  the  little  pilot  glides, 
Averts  each  danj'  r,  everj^  motion  guides  • 
With  grateful  joy  the  willing  whales  attend, 
Observe  the  leader,  and  revere  the  friend. 
Where'er  the  little  guardian  leads  the  way. 
The  bulky  tyrants  doubt  not  to  obey, 
Implicit  tnist  repose  in  him  alone, 
And  hear  and  see  with  senses  not  their  own." 

When,  and  on  what  grounds,  the  misunderstanding  of  the 
pilot  with  his  "  fat  friend"  took  place,  history  fails  to  inform 
us ;  but  that  he  is  now  the  ally  of  the  dreaded  shark,  which 
he  escorts  in  safety  through  every  sea,  is  matter  of  general 
notoriety  and  almost  daily  observation. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  spike  or  spine  rayed  fishes, 
many  others  of  them  among  the  food-fishes  and  those  for  the 
angle  will  be  found  described  in  another  part  of  the  book, 
under  the  names  of  the  fishes. 


The  Roach  and  the  Dace. 


428 


Fishing  in  Amebican  Waters. 


SECOND  CLASS  OF  FISHES. 

SOFT-RAYED  BONY  FISES.     {Malacopterygii.) 


Scale  of  Inches. 

'^^^Sf^^  Family.-I.  Golden  Carp,  or  Goldfish,  Ci/prinua  miratm.  2.  The  Roach 
LeuciMciiarntnus^  8.  The  Loach,  or  Beardie,  Cobitii  barbatula.  4  The  Tench  K«' 
ca  vulgariB.    6.  The  Barbel,  Barh^m  vulgaris!    6.  New  York  Shiner,  (^/MHnM™^^ 

mrcommS™"''  ''"''P'  ''''"'''''''  "''^''-    '•  ^""^"^"-^  ^ew  York  sSr,  cSo- 


FISHES   WITH   ABDOMINAL  VENTRAL  FINS. 

The  carps  may  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  soft-rayed  di- 
vision. They  are  the  least  carnivorous  of  all  fishes,  and  em- 
brace, besides  the  common  carp  and  its  kindred,  the  several 
species  of  the  barbel,  the  gudgeon,  the  tench,  the  roach,  the 
dace  and  shiners,  the  minnows,  the  loach,  and  the  American 
suckers.  They  are  the  most  abundant  fish  in  the  fresh-water 
streams  of  Europe  and  America. 

The  carp,  tench,  roach,  and  kindred  fishes  are  said  by  the 
Abb6  Dom  Pinchon— the  original  fecundator  and  hatcher  of 
fishes  by  artificial  means— to  be  the  most  profitable  to  stock 
ponds  with ;  and  unless  they  should  become  so  numerous  as 
not  to  find  sufficient  feed,  introduce  a  few  pickerel  or  perch. 


Vaeieties  fob  Bait  asb  Fly. 


429 


Scale  of  Inchei. 


Scald  of  Inchei. 

^"^Z%.^Z^!F^^T  Family.-I  Whitcflsh  of  ihe  Lukes,  C<rreg<mm  albim.    2.  Commou 
Sea  Salmon,  Sahao  solar,    3.  New  York  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  fontinali^.    i  Tr^Uet 


C.  Great  Lake  Trout  of  Europe,  Salmoferox. 


430 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


Descriptions  under  each  fish  will  be  found  in  another  part 
of  the  book,  including  those  of  the  Shad  and  other  members 
of  the  Herring  and  Pilchard  family. 

THE   GADID^   family,  OR   PISHES   WITH   THE   VENTRAL   FINS 
BENEATH  THE   PECTORALS,  CALLED  Suh-bvachials. 


Scale  of  Inches, 


The  Con  Family — 1.  Three-bearded  Rockliug,  or  Sea  Loche,  MoMla  tricirrata.  2. 
The  Torsk,  Broamiua  vulqarU.  3.  The  Haddock,  Morrhxm  milefimm.  4.  Coalflsh, 
Merlan/jm  earhonariufi.  6.  The  Ling,  Lota  molva.  6.  Five-bearded  Rockllng,  Motel- 
la  quinqiuxirrata.  7.  The  Whitinir,  Merlangm  vulgaris.  8.  Great  Forked  Hake, 
Phycia  furcatua.    9  Common  Cod,  jforr/ma  vulgaris. 

The  cod  and  haddock  are  among  the  most  important  food- 
fishes  in  the  world.  They  are  caught  with  the  hand-line  on 
the  edges  of  soundings,  and  visit  the  bays  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  to  spawn.  The  Georgia  Banks  and  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  form  pastures  for  millions  of  them,  where  they 
feed  on  launces  (small  eels),  caplin,  and  young  menhaden. 
The  haddock  is  said  to  refuse  all  kinds  of  bait  in  stormy 
weather. 

The  cod  and  haddock,  as  important  commercial  fishes,  are 
treated  of  in  another  part  of  the  work. 


Luxuries  in  Disguises.  431 

THE   FLATFISH   FAMILY.       [Pkuronectidw.) 


Scale  0/ Inches. 

otZZ^r^'^e-^ar^:pl^A'l^^^^  ^-  Oblon.  monger,  Platessa 

coasts).    4.  TheHalibuU^^r,Ji:^r^:e^ 

The  turbot  of  Europe  is  regarded  as  the  aldermanic  fish 
answering  to  our  sheepshead.  Both  the  sole  and  turbot  are 
great  delicacies,  and  even  luxuries.  Boiled  sole,  served  in  a 
napkin  on  a  hot  plate,  with  cauliflower  as  a  vegetable,  and 
fresh  drawn-butter,  is  not  easily  refused  by  the  most  pam- 
pered epicure.  These  fishes  are  generally  taken  with  the 
hand-hue  and  with  the  deep-sea  casting-net.  The  meat  of 
the  sole  IS  very  white,  and  the  taste  pure  and  of  delicate  fla- 
vor.    It  IS  said  to  feed  in  deep  waters  along  chalk  cliffs 

Fishes  2  and  3  are  the  common  flounder  and  the  fluke  The 
lower  jaw  of  the  flounder  is  on  the  right  side  of  the  head,  and 
that  of  the  fluke  on  the  left  side.  These  are  among  the  first 
bitmg  fishes  of  the  early  spring  season  in  most  of  the  estua- 
ries on  the  Atlantic  coast.  They  are  excellent  fishes,  but 
not  sufficiently  known  or  appreciated  by  epicures. 

Until  within  the  past  ten  years,  it  was  supposed  that  nei- 
ther the  turbot  nor  the  sole  inhabited  waters  along  the  Atlan- 


432 


Fishing  in  American  Waters. 


tic  coast  of  North  America ;  but  recently  a  few  turbot  have 
been  taken  off  the  coast  of  New  Brunswick,  and  it  is  thouo-ht 
their  feeding-grounds  will  yet  be  found  along  our  shores. 


THmD  CLASS  OF  FISHES. 

"TL\GINOUS  FISHES.     {Chondropterygii.) 


Scale  of  Feet. 

Sharkb.—I.  Large-spotted  Dog-fish,  Scijllium  catulm.  2.  Tope,  or  Penny-dog,  GaUm 
vulgaris.  3.  Bhi'  '^Imrk  (the  most  common  shark  on  our  coasts),  Carcharius  nlau- 
;:«*.  ,■*•  f  ?''"?*!r  i.^^*^"*  comuhica.  5.  Small-spotted  Dog-flsh,  Scyllium  canicula. 
0.  Picked  (or  Piked)  Dog-flsh,  AearUMaa  vulgaris.   7.  Smooth  Hound,  Mmtelm  Icevis. 


Scale  of  Feet. 

^'Zf:^^'' o^^  CinM.eE/iPAMn.iKH  -1.  Common  Sturgeon  of  the  Atlantic,  Acipenser 
atuno.    2.  Northern  Chimera,  Chimcera  mnmifrnsn     3    Amer'can  Iiik«>  Stnrfrpnji 
Ac'jemer  rubicundua.  ''        "         <"«'-  "-""ocuu, 


m 


Bottom  Denizens. 


433 


tina  anoclus.    5.  Eagle  r5'o\  W&XfS^a^wJfa ''' "'  ^^^-k-flsh.^fua: 


_  ScuU  of  Inches. 

ruE  Catfish  Familt.-1.  Bvo^n  C^ifi^),,  PimoMm  pullm.    2.  Common  Catfish  or 
Homed  Pout,  Pimelodus  catus.  ^"""""n  t^atnsn,  or 

The  Catfish  family  embraces  the  numerous  fresh-water  fish 
which  are  known  in  this  country  by  the  common  names  of 
catfish,  horned  pouts,  and  bullheads.  They  mostly  inhabit 
muddy  streams  and  lakes,  are  destitute  of  scales,  sluggish  in 
their  movements,  and,  like  the  famous  fishing-frog  or  angler, 
to  which  they  bear  some  resemblance,  depend  more  upon 

Ee 


A 


434 


Fishing  in  Amekican  Watees. 


stratagem  than  swiftness  to  seize  tlioir  prey.  The  different 
species  vary  in  length  from  three  or  four  inches  to  four  feet ; 
and  some  are  said  to  have  been  caught  in  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi Rivers  measuring  eight  feet  in  length. 

In  addition  to  the  brown  or  black  and  common  catfish, 
there  is  one  called  the  "  lady-cat,"  or  channel  catfish,  which 
tenants  the  Missouri  River,  and  is  not  only  a  great  table  lux- 
ury, but  one  of  the  most  gamy  fishes  of  the  West.  It  usually 
ranges  from  five  to  fifteen  pounds  in  weight,  is  symmetrical- 
ly formed,  with  smaller  head,  and  finer  in  general  outline  than 
the  others,  and  is  also  lighter  and  brighter  in  color.  This 
fish  remains  in  the  swiftest  waters  of  the  channel,  and  feeds 
on  the  chub,  roach,  and  other  small  fry.  It  is  one  of  the 
greatest^  delicacies  of  the  fish  kind,  and  in  play  it  affords  the 
disciple  of  rod  and  reel  a  treat  long  to  be  remembered.  It 
is  fished  for  with  minnow  for  bait,  using  lieavy  bass  tackle 
with  a  tracing  sinker.  When  hooked,  its  run  is  very  swift, 
and  it  is  hard  to  turn  and  coax  out  of  the  channel,  or  to  the 
gaff  or  landing-net. 

The  following  singular  circumstance,  going  to  prove  the 
aflinity  between  the  common  horned  pout  and  the  bullfrog, 
may  interest  the  naturalist : 

n  a  recent  occasion, 
while  with  Matte- 
son,  the  artist,  he 
informed  me  of  the 
experience  of  Dr. 
White — one  of  the 
principal  physi- 
cians in  the  central 
part  of  New  York 
State  —  in  fishing 
for  horned  'pout, 
known  throughout  the  country  as  bullheads. 

The  doctor,  having  a  taste  for  angling,  which  he  indulged 
whenever  the  condition  of  his  patients  permitted,  was  on  his 


True  as  Singulab.  435 

return  homeward  from  visiting  a  patient,  when  a  summer 
shower  reminded  him  that  it  would  sharpen  the  appetite  of 
the  bullheads  in  the  river  which  he  was  approaching,  and  he 
therefore  reined  up  under  a  shed  near  the  river,  hitched  his 
horse,  cut  an  ash  pole,  found  a  line  armed  with  a  hook  and 
smker  in  his  pocket,  dug  some  angle-worms,  and  forthwitJi 
went  a-fishing. 

There  was  a  punt  moored  at  the  shore,  and,  leaving  it  an- 
chored to  the  side  of  the  stream,  he  stepped  into  it  and  be- 
gan to  fish.    The  bullheads  put  in  an  appearance  immediate- 
ly, so  that  withui  half  an  hour  he  had  taken  some  two  dozen 
fish,  and  as  fast  as  he  took  them  he  cast  them  on  the  grassy 
bank  of  the  shore.     Having  a  pretty  good  mess,  he ''cut  r. 
switch  and  went  to  string  them,  when  not  one  was  to  be 
found.     This  surprised  the  doctor,  and  he  at  once  concluded 
to  solve  the  mystery,  and  so  commenced  fishing  again,  and 
throwing  the  fish  on  the  shore  as  he  had  before  done,  but 
keeping  a  sly  watch  of  them.    After  he  cast  the  fourth 'one 
a  large  bullfrog  leaped  from  the  water,  took  hold  of  a  bull- 
head, and  rolled  into  the  water  with  it;  leaping  out  imme- 
diately,  and  taking  another  fish,  he  rolled  in  as  before,  and  so 
contmued  until  he  had  returned  the  four  to  the  water.     The 
doctor  continued  fishing,  and  as  fast  as  he  had  cast  three  or 
iour  fish  on  shore,  the  bullfrog  returned  and  helped  them 
back  into  the  river. 

As  Dr.  White  is  an  educated  gentleman  who  enjoys  the 
confidence  of  a  very  wide  professional  and  intellectual  con- 
nexion, I  feel  assured  of  the  truth  of  the  foregoing  incident 
and  therefore  report  the  case  for  Professor  Agassiz  or  some 
other  naturalist,  with  the  view  to  a  learned  decision  on  the 
nature  of  the  link  which  connects  the  bullhead  and  frog. 

The  bullfrog  could  not  have  helped  the  bullheads  back  to 
the  stream  to  feed  on  them,  for  the  spiked  dorsal  and  pecto- 
rals of  the  latter  forbid  it.  Even  the  pike-the  most  vora- 
cious fresh  -  water  fiHh  in  the  world,  excepting  the  .llurm, 
which  IS  a  species  of  catfish-is  deterred  from  the  attempt 


436 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Waters. 


The  important  question  for  the  naturalist  is,  Why  did  the 
bullfrog  help  the  bullhead?  Does  the  celestial  quality  of 
charity  influence  the  lower  strata  of  vertebrates  ? 

SECTION  SECOND. 

THECOMMONEEL. 

This  apode  is  too  common  in  both  the  salt-water  estuaries, 
and  in  the  fresh  waters  throughout  America,  to  require  a  mi- 
nute description.  Though  many  fishes  come  into  fresh  wa- 
ters to  spawn,  the  eel  spawns  in  salt  water  when  it  can  get 
to  it,  going  down  stream  in  autumn,  and  returning  in  spring. 
It  is  'a  bottom  fish,  and  winters  in  the  mud  at  the  bottom  of 
-eddies  or  shallow  still  waters  in  streams,  where  the  fisher  poles 
his  boat  along  with  the  handle  of  an  eel-spear,  and  jabs  right 


The  Common  Eel. — Anguilh. 

and  left  in  the  mud,  frequently  impaling  the  writhing  fish. 
The  silver  eel  at  the  mouths  of  the  trout-brooks  on  Long  Isl- 
and is  a  great  luxury  when  either  fried  hard  or  made  into  n 
stew.  It  is  regarded  as  so  great  a  dish  at  Vandewater's,  at 
South  Oyster  Bay,  as  to  be  preferred  to  a  trout  in  the  trouting 
season.  In  skinning  the  eel  and  drawing  it,  cut  deeply  each 
side  of  the  backbone,  and  from  the  vent,  several  inches  down- 
ward, cut  off  all  the  part  which  appears  to  be  a  receptacle  of 


Offek  of  a  new  B.dustky.  437 

clotted  blood.  Yarrel  informs  us  that  "the  London  market 
18  pnncipally  supplied  from  Holland  by  Dutch  fishermen." 
The  cultivation  of  eels  and  lampreys  is  now  rendered  very 
remunerative  in  Italy  and  in  some  parts  of  Germany.  The 
average  weight  of  each  is  from  one  to  three  pounds,  but  they 
Iiave  been  known  to  attain  to  fifteen  pounds'  weight. 

THE   LAMPREY. 

A  member  of  the  Petromyzidce  family,  ccnstituting  the  sec- 
tion cyclostomi  of  the  "  R6gne  Animal,"  distinguished  by  an 
imperfectly  developed  skeleton  and  want  of  pectoral  and  ven- 
tral fins,  combined  with  an  eel-like  form  of  body.  The  mouth 
is  circular,  consisting  of  a  cartilaginous  ring  formed  by  sol- 
dering together  the  palatine  and  mandibular  bones.  The 
branchiae,  instead  of  being  pectinated,  are  purse-shaped,  and 
open  externally  by  several  apertures. 


%V- 


The  'L\^\.VKEX.—Petromyzon  marinus. 

The  lamprey  is  supposed  to  be  the  lowest  of  the  vertebrate 
animals.  They  are  usually  two  feet  in  length,  and  the  en- 
graving is  a  fac-simile  of  them.  Having  no  swimming-blad- 
der, and  being  ako  without  pectoral  fins,  they  usually  swim 
near  the  bottom;  and,  to  save  themselves  from  the  constant 
muscular  exertion  which  is  necessary  to  prevent  them  from 


438 


Fisumo  IN  American  Waters. 


being  carried  along  with  the  current,  they  attach  themselves 
by  the  mouth  to  stones  or  rocks,  and  were,  in  consequence, 
called  "  Petromyzon,"  or  stone-suckers ;  while  the  circular, 
purse-shaped  form  of  the  mouth  induced  the  name  "  Cyclo- 
stomes,"  or  round-mouthed  fishes. 

The  lamprey  is  highly  esteemed  for  the  table,  and  is  there- 
fore much  sought  after  in  the  rivers  where  it  is  found.  Like 
the  eel,  it  ascends  rivers  in  the  spring,  and  returns  to  salt 
water  in  the  fall.  Sir  W.  Jardine  supposes  they  spawn  in 
fresh  water,  but  he  probably  confounds  them  with  the  river 
lamprey,  which  is  a  more  common  fish,  and  less  sought  after 
by  the  epicure.  It  is  known  that  the  marine  lamprey  at- 
taches itself  to  vessels  for  traversing  the  coasts,  rivers,  and 
canals ;  and  some  Continental  naturalists  argue  that,  as  the 
lamprey  is  much  slower  than  the  eel,  but  visits  the  upper 
parts  of  rivers  about  the  time  when  salmon  and  shad  appear 
there,  it  must  therefore  attach  itself  by  its  mouth  to  the  sal- 
mon and  shad,  and  is  by  them  towed  up  the  rivers.  I  think 
the  idea  absurd,  though  it  has  the  sort  of  sanctional  belief 
of  Doctor  Gunther,  and  that  which  Professor  Agassiz  gives 
against  the  turtle's  willingness  to  be  turned  on  its  back. 
That  the  marine  lamprey  is  a  more  active  fish  than  it  has 
credit  for  being  is  probably  nearer  the  truth. 

Both  eels  and  lampreys  may  be  cultivated  by  cutting  ca- 
nals through  soft  marsh  and  swamp  lands  to  connect  with 
tidal  waters,  as  they  redaily  enter  such  inlets  for  food,  and, 
after  they  grow  large  and  fat,  and  turn  toward  salt  water, 
close  the  copper-wire  gates  on  them,  and  lead  them  by  other 
sluices  to  chambers  from  which  there  is  no  egress. 

The  eel  fishery  at  Comacchio  nets  annually  170,000.  The 
Po  is  a  shallow,  sluggish  river,  which  debouches  into  the 
Adriatic  by  its  legs  of  the  Reno  and  Volano,  between  which 
is  a  large  swamp  and  numerous  lagoons.  Here  eels,  which 
enter  in  the  spring  and  fatten  through  the  summer,  are  in- 
tercepted on  their  way  back  to  sea  in  the  fall  by  closing 
the  main  outlets,  and  leading  them  by  devious  channels  to 


Another  Fish  Arrived. 


489 


pounds  prepared  for  their  reception.  They  are  then  salted, 
•iome  smoked,  some  roasted  and  salted,  while  the  markets  of 
Milan,  Verona,  Padua,  Venice,  and  other  cities  are  supplied 
with  fresh  ones.  The  same  could  be  done  along  a  hundred 
rivers  on  the  Atlantic  coast ;  but  we  do  not  yet  realize  the 
Bcarcity  of  fish. 

QUEER   FISHES. 

The  estuary  catfish  is  an  oviparous  abdominal,  and  •  ue  ^f 
the  recent  visitants  to  our  coasts  and  estuaries  fron^  L  -  >l^ 
hama  Banks.    The  first  rays  of  the  dorsal  and  pectox.   xins 
are  rigid;  second  dorsal  adipose;  head  broad,  and  depressed 
on  the  top,  with  small  catfish  eyes  placed  far  apart;  long  an- 
tenn£E ;  two  distinct  nostrils  at  end  of  nose,  with  ear-vents  at 
the  side,  below  the  eyes.     It  is  without  scales,  and  its  blue 
back  mellows  to  pink  sides  and  white  abdomen.     Its  colors 
and  brilliant  sheen  are  like  the  Spanish  mackerel's,  without 
its  spots.    It  is  leather-mouthed,  and  the  mouth  small,  armed 
with  a  cushion  of  fine,  needle-pointed  teeth  round  the  borders 
of  both  jaws,  showing  that  it  may  forage  on  Crustacea  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  waters  generally.     An  individual  20 
inches  long  weighed  scant  two  pounds,  and  it  seldom  attains 
to  a  greater  weight  than  ten  pounds ;  and,  from  its  great  del- 
icacy, it  resembles  both  the  lady-cat  of  the  Missouri  River 
and  the  Spanish  mackerel  of  the  Atlantic  coast.     Though 
generally  captured  in  fykes,  it  is  a  bottom-biter  to  the  angle, 
with  menhaden  or  shedder-crab  baits. 

The  silnre  is  a  native  of  the  River  Danube,  and,  from  the 
high  esteem  in  which  it  is  held  throughout  Europe  as  a  table 
luxury,  acclimatizers  and  pisciculturists  have  introduced  it 
into  most  of  the  waters  of  Germany,  some  of  France,  and  a 
few  of  England.  Bertram,  in  his  "  Treasures  of  the  Sea," 
says  of  the  Silurus  glanis  that  its  character  is  rather  under 
a  cloud,  as  its  capacioufi  maw  has  been  said  to  contain  the 
arm  and  shoulder  of  a  man ;  and  from  the  immense  weight 
to  which  it  attains,  of  from   200  lbs.  to  300  lbs,,  and  the 


1  ]■; 


I  m 


440 


Fishing  in  Amebican  Waters. 


i 


knowledge  that  it  is  the  most  voracious  of  all  fresh-water 
fishes,  the  story  gains  credence. 
It  is  a  bottom-feeding  fish,  like  the  catfish,  and,  like  that,  it 


No.  1.  Estuary  Catfish.    No.  2.  The  Silure,  or  Sihirus  glanis  of  the  Danube. 


IS  a  great  gormandizer,  thinning  off  the  frogs,  and  provino-  a 
perfect  terror  to  all  young  fishes  of  the  ordinary  famiires. 
As  fattenmg  this  fish  for  market  is  very  expensive,  it  would 
scarcely  pay  to  import  it  for  stocking  any  of  the  American 
waters  but  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  wlicre  it  would  form 
one  more  family  of  the  catfish  species,  and  make  up  their  sum 
to  SIX  varieties  of  this  ugly-looking  delicacy.  The  London 
Times  states  that  the  Silurm  glanis  rises  to  the  ponderosity 
of  over  300  lbs.,  and  "  has  been  known  to  reach  the  enormous 
weight  of  54  lbs.  in  four  years;  that  its  flesh  .o-mewhat  re- 
sembles veal  in  appearance,  and  partakes  of  one  rich  flavor 
of  the  eel." 

SECTION  THIRD. 

FISHES   FOB  acclimatizing   IN  AMEBICAN  BIVEES. 

The  Lnde,  a  fish  somewhat  resembling  the  shad,  grows  to 
the  weight  of  nine  pounds ;  subsists  on  aquatic  plants  and  in- 
sects ;  affords  good  sport  to  the  angler.  It  is  found  in  Scan- 
dinavian waters.     . 


Fishes  might  Impbove  by  Travel.  441 

The  Salmo  Hucho,  or  the  huchen,  is  a  very  voracious  fish 
and  would  do  well  in  our  Western  rivers.  It  can  be  import- 
ed Irom  Huningue.     It  affords  good  sport  to  the  an-ler 

The  Mountain  Mullet  is  said  by  Mr.  Francis  to  be  «  one 
of  the  most  delicious  edibles  to  be  found  among  fish."  It  in- 
habits rapid  streams,  grows  to  the  weight  of  two  or  three 
pounds,  IS  fished  for  with  light  tackle,  and  is  rapturous  sport 
for  the  angler.  It  is  abundant  in  Jamaica,  and  the  streams 
of  the  Southern  States  may  easily  be  stocked  with  it. 

The  Scandinavian  Chakr  is  a  delicious  fish  of  from  three 
to  five  pounds'  weight,  is  fine  game  for  the  fly,  and  might  be 
successfully  introduced  into  the  waters  of  the  Northern  and 
Eastern  States. 

Ombee  CHEVALiER.-This  is  regarded  as  the  most  rare  Eu- 
ropean fish  delicacy.  It  is  found  in  the  Lake  of  Geneva  and 
many  other  waters  of  Switzerland,  its  eggs  commanding  a 
cent  each  at  the  fish-cultural  establishment  of  Huningue  in 
France.  This  fish,  of  the  genus  Salmo,  and  running  from 
eight  to  twelve  pounds  in  weight,  may  be  acclimatized,  and 
all  the  Northern  waters  in  America  readily  stocked  with  it. 
So  with  the  Salmo  umbla  and  the  salvalmus.  They  are  rath- 
er more  nearly  related  to  the  families  of  salmon  and  trout 
than  are  the  charr,  and  from  what  I  have  heard  of  the  Moose- 
head  Lake  trout,  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  it  is 
an  ombre  chevalier. 

TLo  GRAYLiNG.-Thls  fish  affoixls  the  fly-fisher  as  great  a 
treat  as  any  fish  belonging  to  the  family  of  the  genm  Salmo, 
provided  it  be  fished  for  with  delicate  fly-tackle.  It  usually 
ranges  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  inches  in  length,  and  from 
two  to  four  pounds  in  weight.  The  rivers  of  New  England 
and  New  York  might  be  readily  stocked  with  this  white- 
meated  luxury. 

A  few  rivers  and  lakes  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence— emi- 
nently those  inhalnted  by  pike,  pickerel,  perch,  and  the  fresh- 
water families  of  basR-=might  be  economically  stocked  with 
MASKiNONGii,  which  is  the  head  of  the  (/enm  Esox  as  well  in 


\  'I  t' 


I    ? 


442 


Fishing  in  Ameeican  Wateks. 


edible  qualities  as  in  size,  and  in  saltatory  powers  and  gamy- 
habits  while  playing  on  the  angler's  hook. 

The  WixNiNisH,  of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Saguenay  River, 
in  Canada,  should  by  all  means  be  introduced  to  the  rivers 
of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire.  It  is  the  richest  game  for  its 
size  of  any  belonging  to  the  genus  Salmo,  and  a  higher  lux- 
ury for  the  table  than  any  other  of  the  numerous  salmon 
families. 

"  But,  after  all,"  to  use  an  American  phrase  of  emphatic 
significance,  the  brook  trout  and  salmon  of  our  Northern  wa- 
ters are  among  the  best  fresh-water  fishes  in  the  world  for 
both  the  picure  and  the  angler.  Add  to  these  the  numer- 
ous delicacies  of  whitefish,  cisco,  black  bass,  ai'd  the  farther 
armies  of  our  lakes  and  rivers,  with  the  teeming  millions  of 
our  coasts  and  estuaries,  and  we  should  be  satisfied  if  we 
can  continue  our  present  ample  store  until  we  can  conven- 
iently add  a  few  kinds  more. 


The  Shout  Suni'ish. 


APPENDIX 


n< 
cc 
lis 

jc 
hi 

w 

th 

in 

CO 


APPENDIX. 


COOKERY  ADAPTED  TO  THE  RESOURCES  OF  SPORTSMEN 
IN  THE  WILDERNESS  OR  ON  THE  WAVE. 

ooKiNG  in  the  wilderness  is  a 
high  art.  It  is  not  sup- 
posed that  these  simple  di- 
rections will  be  of  service 
to  that  class  of  sportsmen 
who  take  to  the  woods  or 
water  a  retinue  of  cooks 
and  attendants,  but  they 
may  be  of  use  to  those 
who  have  a  keen  appetite 
for  the  more  rugged  feat- 
ures of  such  a  life. 

An  officer  of  the  Ameri- 
can Army,  who  made  me 
several  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  this  department, 
states:  "A  sportsman  ig- 
norant of  these  matters  is  an  entire  stranger  to  that  which 
constituted  in  my  day  one  of  the  most  agreeable  phases  of 
fishing  and  hunting  life.  With  some  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject, he  can  at  least  instruct  others  if  he  dislikes  the  practice 
himself;  otherwise  he  becomes  a  mere  dependent  on  those 
who  may  be  more  ignorant  than  himself  On  the  plains  of 
the  West,  in  the  lake  region  of  Canada,  in  the  lower  prov- 
inces, and  on  the  waters  of  Maine,  he  might,  and  would,  of 
course,  subsist,  and  so  would  the  Indian  and  the  Esquimaux, 


hi 


446 


Appendix. 


but  with  this  difference,  that  while  the  latter  are  ignorant 
of  any  better  or  more  agreeable  food,  the  modern  sports- 
man would  be  half  his  time  hankering  after  his  flesh-pots  at 
home." 

BOILING   POTATOES. 

Wash  them,  cut  off  each  end,  put  them  in  a  pot  of  cold 
water,  with  a  tea-spoonful  of  salt  for  every  quart,  cover  them 
with  a  lid,  and  let  the  water  merely  cover  them ;  place  them 
over  a  good  fire,  and  boil  so  fast  that  the  water  tumbles,  un- 
til you  can  stick  a  dining-fork  easily  through  them ;  then 
pour  all  the  water  off,  and  take  the  lid  off,  placing  the  pot 
on  some  embers  beside  the  fire.  Do  not  leave  the  least  wa- 
ter in  the  pot,  or  it  will  steam  them,  and  prevent  them  from 
drying  mealy. 

ROASTING   POTATOES. 

Wash  and  cut  off  the  ends  of  the  potatoes  (especially  the 
seed-end)  and,  when  dry,  draw  the  coals  of  the  fire  forward 
and  place  the  potatoes  on  the  embers,  cover  them  with  hot 
ashes,  then  with  embers,  topping  off  with  coals,  and  after  they 
have  been  roasting  half  an  hour,  try  them. 

QUICK-MADE   YEAST. 

Take  a  pint  of  new  milk,  a  tea-spoonful  of  salt,  and  table- 
spoonful  of  flour,  and  stir  well  together ;  set  it  by  the  fire 
and  keep  it  lukewarm,  and  it  will  be  ready  for  use  in  an  hour. 
It  is  necessary  to  use  twice  the  ordinary  quantity  of  this  yeast, 
and  it  must  be  soon  used  or  it  is  good  for  nothing.  It  is  suit- 
ed to  make  biscuits  in  a  hurry,  but  bread  made  of  it  dries 
soon.        .  ' 


QUICK-MADE   ROLLS. 

Mix  well  together  one  quart  of  fiour,  two  small  tea-spoon- 
fuls of  cream  of  tartar,  one  tea-spoonful  of  soda,  and  one  pint 
of  milk,  and  bake  immediately. 


Appendix. 


447 


FRENCH   ROLLS. 

Take  one  egg,  one  cup  of  milk  (or  water  in  lieu  of  it),  three 
spoonfuls  of  leaven,  one  spoonful  of  butter,  a  little  salt,  and 
as  much  flour  as  will  make  it  a  thick  paste ;  then  make  it 
into  rolls,  and  when  well  risen  bake  them  in  an  oven,  covered 
dish,  or  fry-pan. 

A   PERFECT   OMELET. 

Take  six  eggs,  leaving  out  the  whites  o^  two ;  beat  them  till 
they  are  very  light,  and  add  pepper  and  salt  to  your  taste ;  di- 
vide two  ounces  of  butter  into  small  pieces  and  put  them  into 
the  eggs. 

Put  a  quarter  of  a  pound  o^  beef  or  veal  drippings  into  a 
fry-pan,  and  when  they  boil  put  in  the  eggs ;  fry  gently  till 
of  a  light  brown  on  the  under  side ;  add  parsley  if  you  wish 
it  plain,  and  then  double  it  over  and  serve. 

If  you  wish  it  of  cheese,  beat  it  in  with  the  eggs  in  an 
earthen  dish  if  y  '  ive  one.  For  veal,  ham,  kidney,  or  oys- 
ters, they  must  u^  rirst  cooked,  and  then  put  in  just  before 
the  omelet  is  doubled  over. 

SCRAMBLED   EGGS. 

Beat  six  eggs  enough  to  mix  white  and  yolk  together;  put 
two  ounces  of  butter  in  a  pan  set  on  the  fire,  and  when  melt- 
ed, take  off  the  pan,  and  add  salt,  pepper,  and,  if  you  like,  a 
pinch  of  nutmeg ;  mix  it  in;  then  add  the  eggs,  with  a  table- 
spoonful  of  gravy  or  essence  of  beef;  put  the  pan  again  over 
a  slow  fire,  stir  constantly  till  cooked  to  suit,  and  serve  warm. 

TO   FRY   SALT   PORK   NICELY. 

Cut  it  in  thin  sliced,  and  put  it  in  a  fry-pan  covered  with 
hot  water;  let  it  boil  up  once,  and  then  pour  it  off";  shake  a 
little  pepper  over  it ;  let  it  fry  on  both  sides  in  its  own  fat, 
then  take  out  the  pieces  and  add  to  the  gravy  a  laro-e  tea- 
spoon of  flour;  stir  it  till  smooth  and  free  of  lumps;  then  add 


448 


ArrENDix. 


a  cup  of  milk;  stir  over  the  fire  a  few  minutes;  shake  more 
pepper  over  it ;  then  pour  it  over  tlie  pork,  and  serve ;  or  thin- 
sliced  boiled  potatoes,  or  fried  or  boiled  cold  parsnips,  may  be 
fried  in  the  gravy  when  the  pork  is  taken  out. 

CLAM   OR   OYSTER   FRITTERS. 

Open  and  dry  them  with  a  towel ;  mix  two  well-beaten 
eggs,  somewhat  less  than  half  a  pint  of  thin  liquor  and  half  a 
])int  of  milk  (or  the  same  quantity  of  liquor  in  addition  if  you 
have  no  milk),  with  a  pint  of  flour ;  beat  it  thoroughly  to- 
gether till  it  is  free  from  lumps ;  then  stir  in  the  clams  or  oys- 
ters ;  cut  up  some  salt  pork  in  small  pieces,  and  try  it  out  in 
a  fry-pan,  and  remove  the  pieces  of  pork.  When'the  fat  is 
boiling  hot,  put  in  your  clams  or  oysters  with  a  large  spoon, 
with  one  or  two  clams,  etc.,  and  batter  in  each  spoonful.  Let 
them  brown,  and  then  turn  them  over ;  as  soon  as  done,  re- 
move them  from  the  pan,  and  lay  them  on  a  gridiron  with  a 
dish  under  it  to  catch  the  drippings.  There  should  always 
be  enough  fat  in  the  pan  to  cover,  or  nearly  cover  the  frit- 
ters. 


■I 


SMOKED   BEEF  AND   EGGS. 

Shave  half  a  pound  of  beef  thin,  and  if  very  salt  put  it  in  a 
fry-pan  and  cover  it  with  boiling  water ;  set  it  on  the  fire  and 
let  the  water  come  to  a  boil,  then  pour  off  the  water ;  put  in 
a  piece  of  lard,  beef  drippings,  or  suet  cut  fine,  about  the  size 
of  two  hens'  eggs ;  shake  pepper  over  it  to  taste,  and  ;ry  for 
a  few  minutes  over  a  quick  fire ;  then  pour  over  it  as  many 
well-beaten  eggs  as  you  please ;  stir  up  all  together  till  the 
eggs  are  cooked  to  taste,  and  serve.  In  lieu  of  eggs,  dredge 
the  beef  over  with  flour,  or  add  a  tablespoon  or  two  of  canned 
tomato,  if  you  have  it. 

« 

'  HAM   GRAVY   AND  TOAST. 

Take  the  remains  of  a  ham ;  break  or  saw  the  bones  small ; 
put  them  in  a  sauce-pan  with  hot  vvater  enough  to  cover 


Appendix. 


449 


them ;  let  them  simmer  slowly  over  the  fire  till  the  marrow 
is  extracted  from  the  bones,  then  take  the  pan  off  the  fire  and 
strain  the  contents ;  add  a  little  pepper,  fine  sage ;  dredge  hi 
a  table-spoon  of  flour  previously  browned  in  a  fry-pan,  and  a 
tea-spoon  of  butter ;  set  it  over  the  fire  again  and  stir  for  a 
few  moments ;  lay  your  toast  in  a  dish,  and  pour  the  gravy 
over  it,  and  serve  hot. 

CORN-MEAL  FRITTERS. 

Beat  three  eggs  very  light;  then  mix  them  with  a  pint  of 
milk,  a  tea-spoon  of  salt,  and  enough  yellow  meal  to  make  a 
tnin  batter;  have  lard,  beef  drippings,  or  pork  in  a  fry-pan 
boiling  hot,  and  then  put  in  the  batter  with  a  large  spoon, 
and  fry  each  side  brown ;  when  done,  put  them  in  some  dish 
where  the  fat  on  them  can  drip  off. 

FRIED   POTATOES. 

Peel  and  cut  raw  potatoes,  thick  or  thin ;  let  them  lie  in 
salt  water  as  long  as  convenient ;  have  your  fat  very  hot ;  put 
in  your  potatoes,  and  as  soon  as  brown  remove  them  with  a 
skimmer  into  some  perforated  dish,  or  on  a  cloth  where  the 
fat  can  drip  from  them  and  leave  them  dry  and  crisp.  The 
fat  must  be  as  hot  as  possible. 

TENISON  SAUSAGES. 

Take  equal  quantities  of  the  odds  and  ends  of  raw  venison 
(or  other  fresh  meat)  and  old  salt  pork;  chop  fine;  add  pep- 
per and  sage,  or  other  herbs  to  taste ;  make  them  into  small 
cakes,  and  fry  in  a  pan  without  any  fat,  that  in  the  sausage 
being  enough.  Venison  is  best ;  the  meat  from  the  neck  and 
fore-quarters  is  as  good  as  any  other  part  for  this  purpose ; 
three  tea-spoonfuls  of  sage,  one  and  a  half  of  salt,  and  one  of 
pepper  to  a  pound  of  meat  is  a  good  proportion. 


f 


450 


Appendix. 


VENISON  SAUCE. 

Haifa  i^int  of  port  or  other  wine  made  hot,  a  table-spoon- 
ful of  pulverized  white  sugar,  currant  jelly,  and  a  piece  of 
l)utter  the  size  of  an  egg,  will  make  an  excellent  sauce. 

LIVER  AND   KIDNEY   BROCHET., 

Split  the  kidney  (if  of  beef)  lengthways  in  four  equal  parts ; 
then  cut  them  crossways  into  pieces  about  half  an  inch  thick. 
If  they  are  of  smaller  animals,  cut  them  crossways  only,  and 
K  all  cases  remove  the  fat  and  the  stringy  parts ;  then  cut 
your  liver  and  salt  pork  as  near  as  may  be  of  a  size  and  thick- 
ness of  the  pieces  of  kidney ;  put  a  piece  of  kidney  on  a  skew- 
er or  stift*  piece  of  wire,  then  a  piece  of  jDork,  then  a  piece  of 
liver,  then  a  piece  of  pork,  then  a  piece  of  kidney,  and  so  on 
till  the  skewer  or  wire  is  full;  press  them  well  together; 
drive  two  small  crotched  sticks  into  the  ground  before  the 
fire,  and  rest  the  ends  of  the  skewer  on  each  crotch ;  put  a 
<lish  under  it  to  catch  the  drippings ;  turn  and  baste  from 
time  to  time  till  the  pork  looks  dried ;  or  bake  them  in  an 
oven  with  the  ends  of  the  skewers  resting  on  the  edge  of  a 
tin  dish.  Either  kidney  or  liver  alone  loith  j)ork  is  just  as 
good. 


SCALLOPED   OYSTERS. 

,  Drain  a  quart  of  oysters  from  their  liquor ;  butter  th'^  sides 
and  bottom  of  a  deep  tin  dish,  and  put  in  the  bottom  a  layer 
of  bread-crumbs  or  grated  biscuit ;  season  the  oysters  with 
pepper,  salt,  and  a  little  mace  or  nutmeg ;  cover  the  crambs 
with  a  layer  of  oysters,  and  spread  over  them  several  small 
lumps  of  butter ;  then  add  another  layer  of  crumbs,  and 
again  a  layer  of  oysters,  and  so  on  till  the  dish  is  nearly  full ; 
let  the  last  or  top  layer  be  of  crumbs,  and  fill  up  with  the 
oyster  juice ;  cover  the  pan  with  a  tin  plato  (if  you  have 
no  bake-oven) ;  then  put  live  coals  on  and  under  it,  and  bake 
brown. 


Appendix. 


451 


<r 


FRESH   MACKEREL   A  LA    MAITRE   d'hoTEL. 

Split  the  fish  along  the  back ;  wipe  it  clean  and  dry ;  pour 
over  it  oil,  with  pepper  and  salt,  and  let  it  soak  in  this  as  lonj 
as  convenient— the  longer  the  better ;  then  boil  it  first  on  the 
inside  (as  all  fish  should  be  boiled) ;  then  turn  it  over,  basting 
it  from  time  to  time  with  the  oil,  etc. ;  mix  thoroughly  a  piece 
of  butter,  some  chopped  parsley,  salt,  and  pepper  together, ' 
and  put  it  in  a  dish ;  when  the  fish  is  done,  put  it  on  the  mix- 
ture and  serve  hot. 


DANIEL  Webster's  chowder. 

4  table-spoonfuls  of  onions,  fried  with  pork. 

1  quart  of  boiled  potatoes,  Avell  mashed. 

1^  lbs.  sea-biscuit,  broken, 

1  tea-spoonful  of  thyme,  mixed  with  one  of  summer  savory. 

^  bottle  mushroom  catsup. 

1  bottle  of  port  or  claret. 

i  nutmeg,  grated. 

A  few  cloves,  mace,  and  alspice. 

6  lbs.  fish,  sea  bass  or  cod,  cut  in  slices. 

25  oysters,  a  little  black  pepper,  and  a  few  slices  of  lemon. 
The  whole  put  in  a  pot  and  covered  with  an  inch  of  water, 
boiled  for  an  hour  and  gently  stirred. 

MAJOR  HENSHAW'S   CHOWDER.  ■ 

Cut  up  a  pound  and  a  half  or  two  pounds  of  old  salt  pork 
into  small  pieces,  and  put  it  in  a  pot  that  has  a  close  cover. 
Put  in  four  table-spoonfuls  of  sliced  onions  when  the  pork  is 
nearly  tried  out,  and  when  the  pork  is  entirely  tried  out  re- 
move the  pieces  with  a  skimmer  pr  large  spoon. 

Then  take  six  pounds  of  sea  or  striped  bass,  cod,  or  any 
other  firm  fish,  and  cut  it  in  slices ;  a  pound  and  a  half  of 
broken  biscuit ;  twenty-five  large  or  fifty  small  oysters  (these 
may  be  omitted  if  out  of  season) ;  one  quart  of  boiled  pota- 
toes well  mashed;  half  a  dozen  large,  or  eight  or  ten  small 


ll 


452 


Appendix. 


tomatoes  sliced  (or  half  a  bottle  tomato  catsup  instead) ;  one 
bottle  port  or  claret,  or  other  wine  (the  two  former  are  best) ; 
half  a  nutmeg  grated,  a  tea-si)oonful  each  of  fine  summer  sa- 
vory and  thyme,  and  a  few  cloves,  mace,  allspice,  black  pep- 
per, and  slices  of  lemon.  Put  the  first  five  articles  in  the  pot 
in  layers,  and  alternately,  in  the  order  above  stated;  sprinkle 
over  each  layer  a  portion  of  each  of  the  other  ingredients, 
theu  put  in  water  enough  to  cover  all.  Cover  close,  and  let 
it  simmer,  and  stir  occasionally  till  done.  It  should  not  boil, 
but  simmer  slowly,  and  the  cover  should  be  taken  off  as  sel- 
dom as  possible;  on  this  the  flavor  depends.  When  the  fish 
on  top  is  done,  serve  up  the  chowder. 

CLAM  CHOWDER. 

Butter  the  bottom  and  sides  of  a  deep  tin  or  earthen  dish ; 
strew  the  bottom  thickly  with  bread  crumbs  or  rolled  crack- 
er (soaked) ;  sprinkle  over  it  pepper  and  pieces  of  butter  the 
size  of  a  hickory-nut,  and  parsley  chopped  fine ;  then  put  in  a 
double  layer  of  clams.  Sprinkle  also  over  them  pepper  and 
pieces  of  butter,  then  another  layer  of  soaked  crumbs  or  crack- 
er, and  again  a  double  layer  of  clams,  pepper,  butter,  and  so 
on,  the  last  layer  being  of  crumbs ;  add,  finally,  a  cup  of  milk, 
or,  in  lieu  of  it,  water.  Put  a  plate  over  the  top,  with  coals 
above  and  below,  or  bake  in  an  oven  three  quarters  of  an 
hour.  If  too  dry,  before  it  is  done  add  enough  milk  or  water 
to  moisten  it. 

Fifty  clams,  half  a  pound  of  soda  biscuit  or  bread  crumbs, 
and  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  butter,  is  the  quantity  necessary 
for  this  receipt. 


PISH   EN   GRILLE    OU   EN  PAPILLOTE. 

Scale  and  draAV  your  fish,  wipe  it  dry,  but  use  no  water. 
Cut  off  the  head,  tail,  and  fins.  Take  dry,  mealy  potatoes 
boiled  and  mashed,  and  mix  plenty  of  butter  with  them ; 
when  thoroughly  mixed  into  paste  or  dough,  envelop  each 
fish  in  a  coating  of  them,  and  broil  it  on  a  gridiron,  till  done 


Appendix. 


453 


or  wrap  it  in  oiled  or  greased  v)hite  paper,  and  bake  in  hot 
ashes.    Small  fish  are  best  by  this  process. 

FISH   SAUCE. 

Take  half  a  pound  of  anchovies,  half  a  pint  of  port  or  other 
wine,  a  gill  of  strong  vinegar,  a  small  onion,  a  few  cloves,-  a 
little  allspice  and  w)iole  pepper,  a  few  blades  of  mace,  half  a 
handful  of  green  or  dried  thyme,  and  a  small  lemon  with  the 
peel  sliced.  Put  all  in  a  saucepan,  cover  it  close,  and  stew 
gently  until  the  anchovies  are  dissolved ;  then  strain  off,  and 
bottle  the  liquor  for  use  when  wanted. 

"WHITE   SAUCE   FOR   FISH. 

Mix  well  together  a  lump  of  butter,  a  little  warm  water, 
and  a  table-spoonful  of  flour,  and  add,  if  you  have  it,  a  little 
fine-chopped  parsley ;  let  it  simmer  slowly  a  few  minutes,  and 
pour  over  or  serve  with  the  fish. 

SAUCE   A  LA   MAITRE   d'huTEL. 

Mix  and  knead  well  together  in  a  bowl  two  ounces  of  but- 
ter, a  table-spoonful  of  chopped  parsley,  and  the  juice  of  half 
a  lemon ;  add  salt  to  your  taste.  Vinegar  may  be  substituted 
for  lemon,  but  it  is  not  so  good.  Pepper,  chopped  chives,  and 
some  grated  nutmeg  may  be  added,  if  liked. 

STEWED  fish. 

Clean  and  wipe  the  fish ;  heat  from  two  to  six  ounces  of 
butter  in  a  pan  (according  to  the  size  of  the  fish) ;  Jieat  hot ; 
then  put  in  your  fish,  and  let  it  remain  over  the  fire  five  min- 
utes ;  turn  it  over,  and  let  it  remain  five  minutes  more,  and 
be  careful  not  to  let  it  burn.  Take  the  fish  out,  and  put  it  in 
another  stew-pan  with  a  cover;  dredge  some  flour  into  the 
juice  and  butter,  let  it  remain  over  the  fire  three  minutes, 
and  pour  it  over  the  fish.  Then  take  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
of  butter,  roll  it  well  in  flour,  and  put  it  in  with  the  fish  also; 
add  two  blades  of  mace,  ten  cloves,  a  little  cinnamon,  rod. 


|i 


454 


Appendix. 


pepper,  and  salt,  with  just  enough  water  to  keep  it  from 
burning ;  cover  close,  and  let  it  stew  slowly.  When  half 
done,  add  a  pint  of  port  or  other  wine ;  when  done,  put  the 
fish  in  a  dish,  pour  the  sauce  over  it,  and  garnish  with  lemon 
or  horseradish. 


BECHAMEL   SAUCE. 

Mix  dry  in  a  tin  saucepan  two  ounces  of  butter  and  a  table- 
spoonful  of  flour;  when  well  mixed,  add  a  pint  of  milk,  and 
dissolve  the  butter  and  flour  paste  in  it ;  set  it  on  the  fire,  and 
stii  constantly.  When  it  gets  rather  thick,  take  it  ofi"  and 
pour  into  it  the  yolk  of  an  egg  (previously  well  beaten  in  a 
cup),  and  add  a  tea-spoonful  of  water ;  salt  and  white  pepper 
to  taste.     Mix  it  all  well  again,  and  it  is  ready  for  use. 

TO   MAKE   DELICIOUS   BUTTER   EASILY. 

Spread  out  three  clean  coarse  towels  one  over  the  other, 
and  lay  a  pint  of  thick  cream  on  the  top ;  tie  up  all  the  tow- 
els as  close  as  possible,  and  bury  them  eighteen  inches  deep  in 
diy  earth  for  twenty-four  hours ;  then  take  them  up,  put  the 
cream  in  a  cool  earthen  basin,  and  stir  it  for  five  minutes  in 
summer  or  fifteen  minutes  in  winter,  and  you  will  have  a 
lump  of  as  cool,  fresh,  delicious  butter  as  you  could  desire. 

A  EOYAL   SALAD, 

Let  your  lettuce  be  perfectly  diy.  First  boil  an  egg  fully 
fifteen  minutes ;  then  take  the  yolk,  a  tea-spoonful  of  salt, 
three  tea  -  spoonfuls  of  pure,  dry  mustard,  a  little  Cayenne 
pepper,  half  a  dozen  very  young  green  onions  chopped  very 
Jine:  this  must  not  be  omitted;  if  not  to  be  got,  a  due  pro- 
portion of  the  youngest  onions  must  be  used.  Mix  all  the 
above,  except  the  onions,  well  together;  then  add  and  mix  in 
well  a  table-spoonful  of  vinegar ;  then  add  two  table-spoon- 
fuls of  oil,  and  mix  it  in  thoroughly ;  then  mix  in  thorouo-h- 
ly  half  a  tea-spoonful  of  first-rate  brown  sugar;  then  cut  up 
your  lettuce  of  a  size  to  taste,  and  the  white  of  the  \}gg  smalL 


Appendix. 


455 


and  mix  them  with  the  onions,  turning  them  over  carefull} 
till  well  incorporated ;  after  which  mix  all  the  ingredients  to- 
gether, taking  care  not  to  bruise  the  leaves  of  the  lettuce,  and 
serve  immediately. 

When  celery  is  used  instead  of  lettuce,  double  or  treble 
the  quantity  of  mustard  is  necessary.  It  can  not  be  excelled 
if  the  different  mixtures  are  thoroughly  done. 

AMELIA    SALAD. 

Beat  the  yolk  of  a  raw  (ig%  with  two  table-spoonfuls  of  oil ; 
mash  two  moderate-sized  boiled  potatoes  thoroughly;  add 
(according  to  taste)  salt,  mustard,  and  vinegar  to  the  oil  and 
egg  (and  add  more  oil  if  preferred) ;  then  incorporate  the 
whole  well  together,  after  which  cut  your  lettuce  to  taste, 
and  mix  it  in  carefully,  so  as  not  to  bruise  the  leaves. 

In  using  celery,  a  larger  quantity  of  all  the  ingredients  is 
necessary. 

POTATO  SALAD. 

Take  cold  boiled  potatoes  and  slice  them ;  rub  the  dish  in- 
tended for  them  with  garlic ;  make  a  dressing  of  oil,  vinegar, 
pepper,  salt,  and  parsley,  if  you  have  it,  or  lettuce,  cut  very 
fine,  and  mix  all  together.  To  the  above  may  be  added  any 
odds  and  ends  of  meat,  fowl,  or  fish  you  have,  cut  into  pieces 
of  the  size  of  dice.  Ham,  cold  veal,  anchovies  freshened,  or 
herrings  are  excellent  with  it;  also  any  cold  fish  that  is 
coarse-grained  and  firm,  such  as  porgee,  sea  bass,  salmon,  and 
salmon-trout. 


\ 


FRENCH    PILAU. 

Boil  your  fowls  or  other  birds  in  enough  water  to  cover 
them,  and  when  done,  take  them  out.  Take  out  also  a  por- 
tion of  the  liquor;  then  put  into  the  rest  of  the  liquor  enough 
rice  (previously  Avell  washed)  to  cover  the  birds.  When  it  is 
done,  take  it  out  and  butter  it  well ;  put  half  of  it  in  a  dish. : 
lay  the  birds  on  it ;  add  the  liquor ;  then  cover  the  birds  with 


t 


1    1 


456 


Appendix. 


the  rest  of  the  rice ;  make  it  smooth,  and  spread  over  it  the 
yolk  of  two  well-beaten  eggs.  Cover  the  dish  with  a  tin 
plate,  and  coals  above  and  under,  or  bake  in  an  oven,  with  a 
moderate  fire. 


mm 


QUAIL,  RAIL,  PLOVER,  AND   OTHER   SMALL  BIRDS, 

are  prepared  and  cooked  as  directed  for  snipe  and  wood- 
cock, except  that  you  cut  off  the  head,  and  remove  the  crop 
and  trail  before  cooking.  Some  remove  only  the  crop  from 
the  very  small  birds. 

'CRANES   AND   HERONS, 

when  young,  are  often  stewed  and  broiled  like  chickens,  and 
are  considered  very  good,  but  I  prefer  to  make  a  soup  of 
them,  with  gumbo. 

Pick  and  dress  them  like  any  fowl;  cut  them  up  with  a 
piece  of  fresh  beef,  or  a  gill  of  the  essence  of  beef  to  two  or 
three  birds,  and  put  all  in  a  pot,  with  a  table-spoonful  of  lard 
or  pork,  an  onion,  sliced  or  not,  as  preferred,  and  wate.  enough 
to  cook  the  meat.     After  they  have  become  soft,  if  you  have 
them,  add  100  or  less  oysters,  with  their  liquor,  or  soft  or  hard 
crabs  previously  cleaned  and  cut  in  quarters.     Let  it  simmer 
a  couple  of  minutes  or  so,  if  oysters  are  used  with  crabs,  till 
they  are  done.    Just  before  serving,  stir  in,  till  the  soup  be- 
comes mucilaginous,  one  or  two  table-spoonfuls  of  gumbo. 
Okra  is  commonly  called  gumbo;  their  properties  are  simi- 
lar, but  one  is  a  vegetable  pod,  the  other  a  leaf.     The  only 
place  it  can  probably  be  found  at  in  this  city  is  Coolidge  & 
Adams's,  John  Street.     It  is  cheap. 

POTTED  PIGEONS,  CURLEW,  OR   OTHER   DRY   BIRDS. 

Thoroughly  pick  and  clean  them;  make  a  stuffing  of  one 
egg,  one  cracker,  and  an  equal  quantity  of  suet  or  butter, 
and  sweet  marjoram  or  sage;  make  small  balls  of  the  stuffing, 
and  put  one  of  them,  with  a  small  slice  of  salt  pork,  into  each 
bird ;  dredge  the  birds  weli  with  Hour,  and  lay  ihem  close  to- 


Appendix. 


457 


gether  in  the  bottom  of  a  pot ;  cover  them  with  water ;  throw 
in  a  piece  of  butter;  cover  the  pot,  and  let  them  stew  slowly 
for  an  hour  and  a  quarter;  if  they  are  old  birds,  an  hour  and 
three  quarters. 

ENGLISH    OR  JACK   SNIPE,  AND  WOODCOCK. 

These  birds  live  by  suction,  and  have  no  crop,  the  stomach 
being  somewhat  pear-shaped,  and  about  the  size  of  a  bullet. 
They  should  be  cooked  without  being  drawn,  either  by  broil- 
ing, or  skewered,  with  the  ends  resting  on  crotched  sticks  or 
on  the  sides  of  a  small  tin  pan.  A  small,  thin  slice  of  pork, 
covering  the  breast,  should  be  tied  round  the  bird,  with  a 
slice  or  two  of  toast  laid  under  it  to  receive  the  drippings. 
Cook,  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  according  to  size,  before  or 
over  a  lively  fire.  Those  who  do  not  like  the  trail  should 
nevertheless  cook  the  bird  whole,  and  remove  the  trail  after 
It  is  served  up,  otherwise  the  flavor  of  the  bird  is  nearly 
lost.  The  trail,  head,  and  uecL  are  worth  all  the  rest  to  ep- 
icures. 

TO   SELECT  MUSHROOMS. 

They  grow  in  open  pasture ;  those  near  or  under  trees  are 
poisonous ;  they  first  appear  very  small,  round  in  shape,  and 
on  a  small  stalk ;  the  upper  part  and  stalk  are  white ;  as  they 
increase  in  size,  the  under  part  gradually  expands,  and  shows 
a  fringe  fir  of  a  fine  salmon  color,  and  so  continues  until  the 
increase  in  size  is  considerable,  when  it  changes  to  a  dark 
brown.  The  poisonous  kind  have  a  yellowish  skin,  and  the 
under  part  is  not  a  clear  salmon  color,  while  the  fringe  or  fir 
is  white  or  yellow.  The  good  smells  pleasantly,  the  other 
rank. 


458 


Appendix. 


GENERAL  RULES  FOR  COOKING. 
SOUPS. 

Let  them  simmer  rather  than  boil.  Put  cold  water  in  the 
pot,  and  let  it  heat  gradually ;  only  uncover  the  pot  to  skim 
the  soup.  A  tea-spoonful  of  salt  and  a  quart  of  water  to  each 
pound  of  beef  is  a  fair  average.  Remove  every  particle  of 
scum  before  you  put  in  the  vegetables.  If  soup  is  too  thick, 
always  thin  it  with  boiling  water.  Never  put  in  green  vege- 
tables till  the  water  boils.  Hard  or  fa.  t  boiling  makes  meat 
tough  and  hard.  Put  your  herbs  in  when  nearly  done.  All 
soups  require  simmering  from  four  to  five  hours. 

BOILINGt  VEGETABLES. 

Cabbage  should  boil  an  hour ;  beets,  an  hour  and  a  half; 
parsnips,  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  according  to  size ; 
squashes,  the  larger  end  should  boil  half  an  hour,  the  neck 
pieces  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  longer ;  new  potatoes,  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes ;  old  ones,  from  half  an  hour  to  an  hour, 
according  to  size :  never  let  them  stop  boiling  (if  you  wish 
them  mealy)  till  they  are  done ;  then  turn  ofi"  the  water  and 
let  them  dry. 


BOILING  MEATS. 

Hard  or  fast  boiling  makes  all  meat  dry,  tough,  and  hard. 
Corned  beef  should,  after  being  cooked,  be  left  in  the  liquid 
till  it  is  perfectly  cold,  or  it  will  be  dry.  Fifteen  minutes  to 
each  pound  of  ham  is  a  fair  average.  Hams  and  meat  should 
be  put  in  hot,  but  not  boiling  water ;  cold  water  draws  out 
the  juices.  Beef  tongues  of  a  fair  size  require  full  three  hours' 
boiling. 

BOILING   FISH. 

Ten  minutes  to  every  pound  of  fish  is  a  fair  average ;  if 
large  and  thick,  a  iqw  minutes  longer;  cover  close;  simmer 


Appendix, 


459 


rather  .than  boil;  take  out  immediately  when  done.    A  fresh 
cod  of  four  or  five  pounds  takes  about  twenty  minutes  to 
Never  put  the  fish  in  till  the  water  is  boiling  hot.    Salt 


boil. 


fish  should  never  boil  for  a  moment,  as  it  makes  it  hard;  it 
should  lie  in  scalding  water  two  or  three  hours,  and  then  be 
allowed  to  simmer,  and  the  less  water  you  use  and  the  lon- 
ger it  simmers  the  better  it  will  be.  The  fish  is  done  when 
the  meat  is  easily  detached  from  the  bones. 

FRYING    FISH. 

Never  put  your  fish  in  the  pan  till  the  fat  is  boiling  hot. 
Always  cut  your  pork  small,  and  don't  try  it  out  or  otherwise 
cook  it  too  fast,  as  it  will  lose  much  of  its  sweetness.  Score 
the  fish  and  roll  them  in  flour  before  laying  them  in  the 
sparkling  fat.  In  using  lard,  a  table-spoonful  of  salt  to  a 
pound  is  a  fair  average. 

BROILING   FISH. 

Wipe  your  fish,  and  use  as  little  water  in  cleaning  it  as  pos- 
sible. Put  the  inside  of  the  fish  to  the  fire  first.  Mix  thor- 
oughly in  a  dish  a  tea-spoonful  of  salt  and  pepper  with  about 
four  ounces  of  butter,  and  melt  it.  When  your  fish  is  done, 
turn  each  piece  over  and  over  in  the  butter ;  cover  the  dish,' 
and  keep  it  hot  till  ready  to  serve. 

BROILING   STEAKS. 

Put  the  steak  on  the  gridiron  for  a  few  moments,  and 
scorch  both  sides ;  then  take  it  off,  and  when  perfectly  cold 
proceed  to  broil  it  to  your  taste ;  this  mode  preserves  the 
juices  of  the  meat. 

No  sportsman's  larder  can  be  complete  now  without  a  few 
cans  of  the  essence  of  beef,  for  making  gravies  and  enriching 
a  soup,  together  with  a  ^QVf  herbs  and  spices  for  flavoring. 


460 


Appendix. 


COMPOUNDING  FANCY  DRINKS. 
EGG    NOGG. 

Take  six  eggs,  a  quart  of  milk,  half  a  pint  of  brandy  (or  a 
gill  each  of  brandy  and  rum),  or  usej  any  other  liquor,  and  six 
table-spoonfuls  of  sugar.  Beat  the  yolks  of  the  eggs  and  the 
sugar  well  together,  and  the  whites  very  hard.  Mix  in  the 
brandy  with  the  yolks,  then  boil  the.  milk,  and  add  it  to  the 
mixture.  When  well  stirred  up,  crown  the  whole  with  the 
whites  of  the  eggs. 

SHERRY-COBBLER. 

Put  in  a  tumbler  a  table-spoonful  and  a  half  of  powdered 
sugar  and  a  slice  or  two  of  lemon;  then  fill  it  half  full  of 
crushed  ice ;  thei>  pour  on  it  a  wine-glassful  or  more  of  sher- 
ry. Pour  the  whole  from  tumbler  to  tumbler  till  well  mixed, 
and  drink  through  a  straw,  if  you  have  it. 


MULLED   CIDER. 

Take  a  pint  of  sweet  cider ;  reserve  a  tea-cupful  of  it,  and 
add  to  the  remainder  an  equal  quantity  of  water.  Set  it  to 
boil,  with  a  tea-spoonful  of  whole  allspice  added  to  it ;  then 
beat  three  eggs  very  light,  and  stir  gradually  the  reserved 
cup  of  cider  into  them ;  then  stir  this  mixture  gradually  into 
the  boiling  cider  and  water,  and  continue  stirring  till  th( 
whole  is  smooth;  sweeten  to  taste; 
over  it,  and  serve  hot  in  tumblers. 


grate  a  little  nutmes- 


MULLED   WINE 

is  made  in  the  same  way  as  mulled  cider. 


I 


ARRACK  PUNCH. 

Mix  four  tumblers  of  Jamaica  rum  (Antigua  is  best),  three 
quarters  of  a  tumbler  of  arrack,  half  a  tumbler  of  lemon-juice, 
and  the  rind  of  n  lej-ton  and  a  lialf;  add  sugar  and  water  equal 


Appendix. 


461 


to  twice  the  quantity  of  liquor.    Before  adding  the  sugar  and 
water,  let  the  mixture  stand  some  ten  minutes  or  so. 

CLARET   PUNCU. 

Take  one  bottle  of  claret  or  Burgundy,  one  bottle  of  plain 
soda  (some  prefer  two),  one  lemon,  one  glass  of  sherry,  and 
sugar  to  taste.  Mix  all  well  and  ice  it  thoroughly,  and  at 
the  moment  of  serving  add  another  bottle  of  soda.  This 
punch  is  excellent  in  hot  weather. 

*  COMMON  PUNCH. 

Mix  well  together  one  tumbler  of  crushed  sugar,  half  a 
tumbler  of  any  liquor,  six  tumblers  of  water,  the  rind  of  two 
lemons  and  the  juice  of  one,  or  half  a  tumbler  of  lemon  sirup, 
and  ice  if  to  be  had. 

AGRAZ. 

Pound  some  unripe  white  grapes,  and  add  some  white  sug- 
ar and  water.  Strain  till  it  acquires  a  very  pale  amber  or 
straw  color ;  then,  if  possible,  freeze  it  in  ice,  and  use.  This 
is  a  Spanish  receipt,  and  is  considered  by  many  of  that  na- 
tion the  most  delicious  and  refeshing  hot-weather  drink  ever 
devised. 

REGAL  PUNCH. 

Peel  twenty-four  lemons ;  steep  the  rinds  for  twelve  hours 
in  two  quarts  of  Jamaica  rum ;  squeeze  the  lemons  on  three 
pounds  and  a  half  of  loaf  sugar ;  add  two  quarts  of  dark 
brandy  and  six  quarts  of  water.  Mix  all  together ;  add  two 
quarts  of  boiled  milk ;  stir  until  the  mixture  curdles ;  strain 
it  through  a  jelly-bag  until  clear ;  bottle  and  cork. 

FLIP. 

Put  the  quantity  of  ale,  porter,  or  beer  you  wish  in  a  tin 
cup,  and  add  sugar  to  taste ;  heat  the  end  of  a  thick  piece  of" 
iron  red  hot,  plunge  it  in  the  liquor,  and  stir  round  till  the 


462 


Appendix. 


liquor  ceases  to  bubble,  and  drink  hot.  This  is  the  most  re- 
freshing and  strengthening  drink  either  before  or  after  a 
hard  day'?  hunt  that  I  know  of.  A  piece  of  iron  of  the  shape 
and  size  of  a  large  soldering-iron  is  the  best. 


GENERAL  REMARKS. 

Although  sportsmen  and  mariners  do  not  seek  either  the 
wilds  or  the  waves  for  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  yet  they  set 
a  higher  estimate  on  heaven  s  bounties  than  to  suppose  meat 
and  drink  given  to  sustain  life  only.  They  consider  them 
rather  as  bestowals  for  strength  and  enjoyment  to  man,  and 
as  such  they  are  to  be  used  intellectually  and  in  moderation. 

In  the  foregoing  list  of  edibles,  there  is  not  a  rare  article 
named,  or  one  which  is  cumbrous  to  convey  on  fishing  excur- 
sions. Meats,  sauces,  and  vegetables  of  nearly  all  kinds  are 
now  canned  or  desiccated,  and  put  up  in  convenient  packages 
to  carry,  so  that  for  a  camp  life  of  only  a  fortnight  on  the  ar- 
omatic boughs  of  fir  or  hemlock  it  will  pay  to  provide  them. 

Persons  who  have  never  enjoyed  camp  li.^  out  of  the  reach 
of  primary  elections  are  not  expected  to  realize  the  great  lux- 
ury of  satisfying  the  cravings  of  real  hunger  caused  by  sport- 
ive -exercise  in  the  forest,  and  especially  are  those  creature 
comforts  -double  blessings  when  storm-bound  and  confined 
to  the  camp. 

Thus  much  I  have  considered  necessary  to  state  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  adding  the  culinary  and  bibulous  part  as  an  appen- 
dix, for  ti. ore  are  not  wanting  those  who  consider  eating  and 
drinking  undignified  duties. 

Bermuda  onions,  potatoes,  and  salted  side-pork  are  neces- 
saries in  the  wilderness ;  these,  with  eggs  and  flour,  are  about 
the  only  articles  to  be  sent  in  bulk.  Trout  are  cooked  only 
four  ways  in  the  wilderness :  the  large  ones  are  boiled,  or 
rolled  in  a  sheet  of  paper  which  has  been  well  buttered,  then 
protected  farther  by  four  or  five  thicknesses  of  brown  paper, 
when  it  is  placed  on  hot  ashes,  and  covered  with  hot  ashes 


Al'PKIifDIX. 


463 


topped  off  with  live  coals,  and  thus  left  twenty  minutes  foi- 
every  pound  weight.     When  taken  from  the  fire  the  wrap- 
pers are  removed,  including  the  skin,  which  will  adhere  to 
the  paper,  and  it  is  placed  on  a  hot  plate  and  seasoned  to  the 
taste.     The  third  way  is  to  draw  the  trout,  clip  off  the  fins, 
score  it  across  on  each  side,  roll  it  in  flour,  and  place  it  in' 
a  pan  of  sparkling  hot  butter,  or  fat  tried  from  salt  pork ; 
dredge  with  flour,  and  turr.  it  several  times  for  a  thick  crust.' 
The  fourth  way  is  to  spit  it,  with  a  thin  slice  of  salt  pork 
along  one  side,  on  a  birch  fork,  turning  it  by  hand  over  a 
camp-fire  until  done.     Lemon-juice  is  a  refreshing  luxury  on 
salmon  or  trout.     In  using  sea-biscuits,  soak  them  previously 
in  cold  water;  they  are  then  good  when  fried  in  the  gravy 
left  from  frying  ham  and  eggs. 

To  those  who  can  explain  the  recondite  harmonies  which 
subsist  between  the  velvet  calipash  and  the  verdant  calipee, 
nothing  farther  need  be  added ;  and  for  those  who  do  not 
comprehend  them,  words  would  prove  superfluous. 


NOTEWOETHY  ITEMS. 
Drying  Lines.— Fishing  clubs  provide  posts  and  hooks  at 

headquarters  for  drying  lines,  but 
in  wet  or  foggy  weather  they  are 
useless.  Experienced  anglers  there- 
fore generally  carry  a  small  reel 
withthem,for  linen  bass-lines, when 
in  use,  should  be  dried  every  even- 


ing. 


Reel  for  Drying  Lines. 


This  reel,  which  is  formed  of  24 
narrow  slats,  tied  at  the  ends  in 
threes,  and  moving  by  a  double 
button  or  screw  in  the  centre, 
closes  like  an  umbrella,  being  light, 
and  occupying  very  little  room  in 
a  trunk.     For  using  it,  fasten  the 


464 


Appkndix. 


toot  by  a  screw  to  a  board  or  table-loaf;  open  it  by  8li<liiig 
up  on  the  staff  the  lower  base  to  which  the  slats  are  fastened, 
autl  fasten  it,  by  the  screw  represented,  to  the  centre-shatt  or 
staff.  Hold  the  lino  with  one  hand  and  turn  the  reel  with 
the  other.  The  reel  may  be  bought  at  most  of  the  fishing- 
tackle  stores,  such  as  Clerk's,  Conroy's,  Bates's,  Pritchard's,  in 
New  York,  or  at  Bradford's,  in  Boston. 

Cop  AT,  Y:  j;n--h. — This  is  the  best' varnish  for  tackle,  hook- 
dressings,  etc. 

WiiiTK  Wax.  —  This  is  made  like  cobbler's  wax,  and 
stretched  until  it  becomes  nearly  white,  dry,  and  brittle;  or 
mix  beeswax,  resin,  and  tallow ;  pour  into  water,  and  stretch 
and  work  it  with  the  hands. 

Spermaceti. — Good  to  dress  lines.  To  take  the  kink  out 
of  linen  lines,  darken  their  color,  and  not  weaken  them  by 
preparation,  dip  them  into  tanner's  or  lamp  oil,  and,  v  hen 
saturated,  hang  them  up  until  they  dry,  when  pack  then;  in 
mahogany  dust,  and  leave  thoi'i  several  days,  or  until  the 
dust  has  absorbed  the  oil. 

India-rubkek  Dressing. — This  is  recommended  both  for 
dressing  lines  and  for  patching  India-rubber  boots.  For 
lines,  cut  into  small  pieces  some  white  rubber  and  dissolve  it 
in  turpentine— about  tVtj  rubber  and  -jV^  turpentine.  Set 
the  vessel  coiraining  them  in  hot  water,  as  you  would  glue; 
or  rubber  may  be  dissolved  in  chloroform,  llubber  dressing 
for  lines  is  not  liable  to  crack,  and  is  therefore  preferred  to 
varnish ;  but  spermaceti  is  preferred  by  our  best  fishing-tackle 
manufacturers.  Boiled  linseed  oil  with  u  lump  of  resin,  or  a 
little  gold  size,  is  preferred  by  some. 

To  DRi:<s  Leather  WADiNG-nooTS. — Cut  into  shavings 
some  black  India-rubber  (the  vulcanized  is  not  good  for  these 
preparations),  and  place  them  in  a  vessel  containing  double 
the  amount  o."  spirits  of  turpentine ;  place  the' vessel  in  hot 
water  until  the  rubber  dissolves,  when  mix,  and  let  it  cool  so 
as  not  to  burn  the  leather,  and  rub  the  uppers  and  creases 
above  the  sole,  and  they  will  be  water-proof. 


Appendix. 


4G5 


Some  sportsmen  cut  hlack  rubber  into  shreds  and  mix  it 
with  hot  tallow  until  dissolved,  when  the  mixture  is  supposed 
to  keep  the  boots  both  dry  and  soft. 

To  dress  wading-boots  in  sumniei,  nib  them  ver  every 
morning  while  they  are  in  use  witii  a  piece  of  bullock's  scro- 
tum. It  will  prevent  them  I'rom  leaking,  and  render  them  as 
soft  as  chamois-skhi. 

To  KEEP  MoTii  FROM  Featiiers.— Placc  them  in  ;  close 
case  with  the  gum  of  camphor,  or,  what  is  better,  witli  vanilla 
beans ;  what  is  still  better  is  scrapings  of  Kussia  leather. 
Boxes  made  of  cedar  or  sandal-wood  are  the  best.  Tobacco, 
and  both  black  and  red  peppers,  are  good  to  sprinkle  the 
feathers  with,  or  to  place  in  large  amounts  in  the  boxes  of 
feathers. 

To  PRESERVE  SiLK-woRM  GuT.— Keep  it  neither  wet  nor 
dry.  A  dry  cellar  forms  the  best  store-room  for  it.  Keep  it 
packed  and  out  of  the  air. 

Oil  for  Hooks  and  Reels.— That  from  the  head  or  jaw 
of  the  porpoise  is  the  best. 

Clearing  Ring  should  bo  about  two  inches  in  diameter, 
and  half  a  pound  weight  for  coast-fishing;  one  fourth  pound 
for  fresh-water  fishing.  The  line  attached  to  it  should  be 
wound  on  a  spool  or  reel,  as  shown  on  the  cut  in  the  title- 
page,  or  that  in  salmon-fishing.  In  cas-  the  hook  gets  fast, 
let  the  ring  run  down  to  dislodge  it ;  or  i  i  salm*  „  or  striped 
bass  sulks,  let  tl,  ring  glide  down  on  the  line  to  his  nose,  and 
he  will  generally  change  quarters. 

To  Stain  Gimp.— Mr.  Francis  quotes  "Book  of  the  Pike" 
hi  stathig :  "  Bright  brass  gimp  is  easily  seen  by  the  fish.  To 
discolor  it,  soak  it  in  a  solution  of  bichlorate  of  platinum 
mixed  with  water— one  of  platinum  to  eight  or  ten  parts  of 
water;  then  dry  before  the  fire." 

Marine  Glue  is  recommended  for  covering  splices  and 
securing  ties. 

Silk,  Tinsel,  etc.— To  preserve  them,  keep  them  dry,  and 
away  from  tlie  fire  and  air. 

Gg 


466 


Appendix. 


Preserving  Water-proofs. — Do  not  hang  them  on  a  nail 
or  peg ;  citlier  liang  them  over  a  chair-back,  or  spread  tliem 
out  on  the  tent  floor.  Do  not  dry  either  boots  or  coats  near 
a  fire])lace  or  a  stove.  At  our  ])rinclpal  club-houses  there  is 
a  drying-room ;  but  on  fishing  excursions  it  were  better  not 
to  dry  boots  and  coats  than  to  injure  them. 


FEET  DRESS   FOR  FIELD-SPORTS. 


Figures  1, 2,  3,  represent  the  sole,  front,  and  side  views.    A  and  U  -  how  tbe  laced  lap- 
piui;  at  the  ankle,  C  the  wide  tuugue,  aud  D  the  Bule. 

I  copy  these  designs  from  a  communication  to  the  F'leld  by 
"The  Forester,"  who  is  one  of  the  Icarling  sportsmen  in  En- 
gland and  Scotland.  By  the  wear  of  these  boots  it  is  intend- 
ed that  the  ankle  shall  not  be  easily  sprained,  and  that  the 
alternate  lacings  on  each  side  of  the  instep  keep  the  shoe 
more  natural  and  firm  than  if  laced  on  one  side  only;  and,  be- 
sides, the  lacing  is  less  liable  to  gape. 

In  the  first  place,  the  last  on  which  the  boots  are  made 
should  be  a  shaving  all  round  wider  than  the  naked  foot,  and 
then  the  sole  should  be  a  trifle  larger  than  the  bottom  of  the 
last.  The  heel  should  be  low,  and  extend  forward  in  lii.e 
with  the  front  of  the  ankle-bone.  The  straps  should  be  made 
of  soft  leather,  and,  being  broad  and  flat,  they  gather  the  heel 
portion  of  the  boot  well  up,  and  support  the  ankle  and  instep. 
The  boots  should  be  large,  to  admit  a  heavy  ribbed  stocking 
of  wool,  rather  loose,  for  a  weft  too  close  causes  the  feet  to 
be  too  warm.  This  writer  objects  to  water-tight  boots,  and 
at  night,  after  a  day's  sport,  he  drains  his  boots,  wipes  them 
out,  greases  them  to  keep  them  soft,  sets  them  in  a  dry  place 


AlTENDIX. 


467 


very  remote  from  the  fire,  and  the  next  morning  he  dons 
them  over  a  pair  of  }ieavy,  ribbed,  dry  stockings,  and  is  a-ain 
ready  for  the  fray.  Use  small  tacks,  placed  in  threes  on°the 
soles,  and  as  they  lose,  replace  at  evening. 

"The  Forester"  is  doubtless  right  foi^a  shooting-boot,  or 
for  a  boot  to  fish  along  the  stream  for  trout,  or  from  the  rocks 
for  striped  bass ;  but  for  wading,  in  summer  weather,  the 
pegged  shoe  of  the  American  army  regulation  is  the  best  cov- 
ermg  for  the  feet. 

Stiff  leathern  leggins,  like  those  worn  by  the  Zouaves,  are 
useful  to  protect  the  shins  when  threading  rough  under- 
growth ol  thorns  and  briers  along  a  trout  stream.  For  wad- 
ing-boots  I  have  found  alligator-skin  the  best  uppers  for  the 
feet,  and  Russia  leather  the  best  for  the  legs. 

Getchell's  rubber  boots,  lined  with  clotl^  and  with  silk  ex- 
tensions above  the  knees,  are  the  most  perfect  articles  of  the 
rubber  kind. 


AMERICAN  GAME-LAWS. 

AMERICAN  LAWS   FOR   THE   PROTECTION   OF  FISH,  GAME,  AND 

INSECTIVOROUS   BIRDS. 

The  leading  features  of  these  laws  are  included  in  those 
for  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and 
I  therefore  give  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  remainino-  part 
of  North  America,  as  the  laws  for  regulating  the  protection 
and  capture  of  game  and  fresh-water  fishes  should  be  similar 
throughout  the  United  States  and  their  borders. 

GAME-LAWS   OP  THE    STATE    OF   NEW   YORK. 

An  Act  to  amend  and  consolidate  the  several  acts  relating,  to  the  Preservation 

oj  JJoose,  Wild  Deer,  Birds,  and  Fresh-water  Fish, passed  May  13, 18G7. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assemble, 
do  enact  as  follows :  •^' 

MOOSE    AND   DEER, 

Sec.  1.  No  person  shall  kill,  or  pursue  with  intent  to  kill,  any  moose  or 
mid  deer  save  only  during  the  months  of  August,  Se])temher,  October,  No- 


468 


Appendix. 


member,  and  up  to  and  inclusive  of  the  10th  day  of  December,  or  shall  expose 
for  sale,  or  have  in  his  or  her  possession,  any  green  moose  or  deer  skin,  or 
fresh  venison,  save  only  in  the  months  aforesaid,  and  up  to  and  inclusive  of 
the  10th  of  December. 

WILD  FAWN  AND  GRAY   BABBITS. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  shall  at  any  time  kill  any  wild  fawn  during  the  periods 
when  such  fawn  is  in  its  spotted  coat,  or  expose  for  sale,  or  have  at  any  time 
in  his  or  her  possession,  any  spotted  wild  fawn  skin,  or  any  gray  rabbit,  from 
the  1st  of  February  to  the  1st  of  November.  \ 


WILD    PIGEONS. 

Sec.  3.  No  person  shall  kill,  or  catch,  or  discharge  any  fire-arm  at  any  wild 
pigeon  while  in  any  nesting-ground,  or  break  up  or  in  any  manner  disturb 
such  nesting-ground,  or  the  nests  or  birdu  therein,  or  discharge  any  fire-arm 
at  any  distance  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  such  nesting-place  at  such  pigeon. 

WILD-FOWL, 

Sec.  4.  No  person  sliall  kill,  or  exp^^e  for  sale,  or  have  in  his  possession 
after  the  same  is  killed,  any  wood  duck  (commonly  called  black  duck),  gray 
duck  (commonly  called  summer  duck),  mallard,  or  teal  duck,  between  the  1  st 
day  of  Febnuiry  and  the  1 5th  day  of  August  iu  each  year.  No  person  shall 
at  any  time  kill  any  wild  duck,  goose,  or  other  wild-fowl,  with  or  by  means  of 
the  device  or  instrument  known  as  swivel  or  punt  gun,  or  with  or  by  means 
of  any  gun  other  than  such  guns  as  are  habitually  raised  at  aim's  length  and 
fired  from  the  shoulder,  or  shall  use  any  such  device,  or  instrument,  or  gun 
other  than  such  gun  as  aforesaid,  with  intent  to  kill  any  such  duck,  goose,  or 
other  wild-fowl.  No  person  shall  in  any  manner  kill,  or  molest  with  intent 
to  kill,  any  wild  ducks,  geese,  or  other  wild-fowl,  while  the  same  are  sitting 
at  night  upon  their  resting-places.  .But  this  section  shall  not  apply  to  waters 
of  Long  Island  Sound  or  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 


PENALTY   FOU   VIOLATION. 

Sec.  5.  Any  person  violating  the  foregoing  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  sliall  likewise  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of 
fifty  dollars  for  each  oftense. 

INSECTIVOUOirS   BIRDS. 

Sec.  G.  No  person  shall  at  any  time,  within  this  state,  kill,  or  trap,  or  ex- 
pose for  sale,  or  have  in  liis  possession  after  tlie  same  is  killed,  any  eagle,  fish- 
hawk,  night-hawk,  whippoorwill,  finch,  thrush,  lark,  sparrow,  ycUow-bird, 
lirown  thresher,  wren,  martin,  swallow,  toiiager,  oriole,  woodpecker,  bobolink, 
or  any  other  harmless  bird,  or  any  song-bird ;  or  kill,  trap,  or  expose  for  sale 
any  robin,  blackbird,  meadow-lark,  or  starling,  save  during  the  months  of  Au- 
gust, September,  October,  November,  and  December ;  nor  destroy  or  rob  the 
nests  of  any  wild  birds  v/hatever,  un%er  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  each  bird 
so  killed,  trapped,  or  exposed  for  sale,  and  for  each  nest  destroyed  or  robbed. 


y 


Appendix. 


469 


This  section  shall  not  apply  to  any  person  who  shall  kill  or  trap  any  bird  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  its  habits  or  history,  or  having  the  same  stuffed  and 
set  up  as  a  specimen ;  nor  to  any  person  who  shall  kill  on  his  own  premise, 
any  robm  during  the  period  when  summer  fruits  or  grapes  are  ripening,  pro- 
vided such  robin  is  killed  in  the  act  of  destroying  such  fruits  or  grapes 

PINNATED   GROlSE. 

.v^'"'''/;  •n''  P^"'"'"  '''^"'  "*  ^"y  ^-""^  ''''^'''  ^«"  J-«^'-«  from  the  passage  of 
this  act,  kill  ny  pinnated  grouse,  commonly  called  the  prairie-fowl,  unless 
iipon  grou.  ds  owned  by  them,  and  grouse  placed  thereon  by  said  owners,  un- 
der a  penalty  of  ten  dollars  for  each  bird  so  killed. 

WOODCOCK,  RUFFL.    GROUSE,  QUAIL,  RAIL,  AND   PARTRIDGE. 

Sec.  8.  No  person  shall  kill,  or  have  in  his  or  her  possession,  except  alive, 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  same  alive  through  the  winter,  or  expose  for 
sale  any  woodcock  or  ruffed  grouse,  commonly  called  partridge,  between  the 

n„  1.  i"  V  """'^  ""f  '1  ' ''  '^^y  ^*'  September,  or  kill  any  quail,  sometimes 
calkd  Virginia  partridge,  between  the  1st  day  of  January  and  the  20th  day 
of  October,  or  have  the  same  in  possession,  or  expose  the  same  for  sale  be- 
tween the  1st  day  of  February  and  the  20th  day  of  October,  or  have  in  his 
possession  any  pinnated  grouse,  commonly  called  prairie-chicken,  or  expose 
the  same  for  sale  between  the  1st  day  of  February  and  the  1st  day  of  July 
under  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  each  bird  so  killed,  or  had  in  possession,  or 
exposed  for  sale.  Provided,  however,  that  in  the  counties  lying  along  the 
Hudson  River,  and  Susquehanna  River  and  its  branches,  and  in  the  counties 
lying  south  of  the  north  line  of  the  county  of  Greene,  and  the  county  of  Co- 
lumbia, and  m  the  counties  bordering  upon  the  waters  where  the  tide  ebbs 
and  flows,  it  shall  be  lawful  to  kill,  or  possess,  or  expose  for  sale  any  woodl 
cock,  or  rail,  or  ruffed  grouse,  commonly  called  partridge,  between  the  3d  day 
of  July  and  the  1  st  day  of  January. 

TRAPPING    PROHiniTED. 

Sec.  0.  No  person  shall,  at  any  time,  or  in  any  place  witiiin  this  state  with 
any  trap  or  snare,  take  any  quail  or  ruffed  grouse,  under  a  penalty  of  five  dol- 
lars tor  each  quail  or  grouse  so  trapped  or  snared. 

VIOLATING    the   SABBATH. 

Sec.  10  There  shall  be  no  shooting,  hunting,  or  trapping  on  the  first  dav 
of  the  week,  called  Sunday,  and  any  person  offending  against  the  provision; 
of  this  section  shall,  on  conviction,  forfeit  and  pay  a  sum  not  exceeding  twen- 
ty-hve  dollars,  or  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  of  the  county  where  the 
oftense  was  committed  not  less  than  ten  days  nor  more  than  twenty-five  days 
for  each  offense.  .^  .» • 


•  TRESPASS. 

Sec.  11.  Any  person  who  shall  at  ^ny  time  enter  upon  the  Inwn  '-arden 
orchard,  or  pleasure-grounds  immediately  suiTounding  a  dwcliing-hcu^e.  witi": 


470 


ArrENDix. 


any  fire-arm,  for  the  purpose  of  shooting,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  or  shall  shoot  at  any  bird  or  animal  thereon,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
tresnass,  and,  in  addition  to  the  damages,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  ten 
dollars. 


POISONING    FRESH-WATER    STREAMS. 

Sec.  12.  No  person  shall  place  in  any  fresh-water  stream,  lake,  or  pond, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  any  lime  or  other  deleterious  substance' 
with  intent  to  injure  fish  ;  nor  any  drug  or  medicated  bait,  with  intent  there- 
by to  poison  or  catch  fish ;  nor  place  in  any  pond  or  lake  stocked  with  or  in- 
habited by  trout,  black  bass,  pike,  pickerel,  or  sunfish,  any  drug  or  other  dele- 
terious substance,  with  Intent  to  destroy  such  trout  or  other  fish.  Any  per- 
son violating  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  he  deemed  guilty  of  a  misde- 
meanor, and  shall,  in  addition  thereto,  and  in  addition  to  any  damage  he  may 
have  done,  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  one  hundred  dollars. 

BUILDING  AND  MAINT.1INING  DAMS. 

Sec.  13.  Every  person  building  or  maintaining  a  dam  upon  the  rivers  emp- 
mng  into  Lake  Ontario,  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  or  Lake  Champlain,  which 
dam  is  higher  than  two  feet,  shall  likewise  huild  and  maintain,  during  the 
months  of  March,  April,  May,  September,  October,  and  November,  for  the 
purpose  of  the  passage  of  fisli,  a  sluice-way  in  the  mid-channel  at  least  one 
foot  in  depth  at  the  edge  of  the  dam,  and  of  proper  width,  and  placed  at  an 
angle  of  not  more  than  thirty  degrees,  and  extending- entirely  to  the  running 
water  below  the  dam,  which  sluice-way  shall  be  protected  on  each  side  by  an 
apron  at  least  one  foot  in  height,  to  confine  the  waiter  therein. 

SPECKLED   BROOK   TROUT. 

Sec.  14.  No  person  shall  at  any  time,  with  intent  so  to  do,  catch  any  speck- 
led brook  trout  or  speckled  river  trout  with  any  device  save  only  with  a  hook 
and  line;  and  no  person  shall  catch  any  such  trout,  or  have  any  such  trout  in 
his  or  her  possession,  save  only  during  the  months  of  i\])ril,  May,  June,  July, 
August,  and  September,  under  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  each  trout  so  caught 
or  had  m  his  possession ;  but  this  section  shall  not  prevent  any  person  or  cor- 
poration from  catching  trout  in  waters  owned  by  them  to  stock  other  waters 
belonging  to  them.  But  the  counties  of  Kings,  Queens,  and  Suffolk  shall  be 
exempted  from  the  provisions  of  the  above  section  so  far  as  to  allow  the  tak- 
ing or  catching  of  trout  in  the  counties  last  named  during  the  month  of  March. 

SALMON-TROUT. 

Sec,  15.  No  person  shall  take  or  have  in  possession  any  salmon-trout  be- 
tween the  ir.th  day  of  October  and  the  1st  day  of  February  in  each  year,  un- 
(  er  a  penalty  of  five  dollars  for  each  fish  so  taken  and  had  in  possession.  But 
this  section  shall  not  ajjply  to  the  waters  of  Otsego  Lake. 

BLACK    BASS    OR    MASKALONOK. 

Sec.  16.  No  person  sliall  take  or  have  in  possession  ar.y  black  bass  or  mas- 


Appendix. 


471 


kalonge  between  the  1st  clay  of  January  and  the  1st  day  of  May,  under  a  pen- 
alty of  five  dollars  for  each  fish  so  taken  or  had  in  possession. 

NETS,  TRAPS,  ETC. 

Sec.  17.  No  person  shall  at  any  time  take  any  fish  with  a  net,  spear,  or 
trap  of  any  kind,  or  set  any  trap,  net,  weir,  or  pot,  with  intent  to  catch  fish,  in 
any  of  the  fresh  waters  of  this  state,  except  as  hereinafter  provided  ;  and  any 
person  violating  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor, and  shall  likewise  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  twenty-five  dollars  for 
each  off"ense ;  but  suckers,  catfish,  eels,  whitefish,  shad,  and  minnows  are  ex- 
empted from  the  operation  of  this  section ;  Provided,  however.  That  nothing 
in  this  section  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  legalize  the  use  of  gill-nets  in  any 
of  the  fresh  waters  of  this  state.  But  in  the  waters  of  Otsego  Lake,  seines 
may  be  used  from  the  first  day  of  March  to  the  last  day  of  August,  and  gill- 
nets  may  be  used  during  the  months  of  July  and  August ;  but  no  such  seine 
or  net  shall  have  meshes  less  than  one  inch  and  three  quarters  in  size. 

VIOLATION. 

Sec.  18.  No  person  shall  sell,  expose  for  sale  or  purchase,  or  have  i.i  his  or 
her  possession,  any  fish  taken  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  under  a 
penalty  of  five  dollars  for  each  fish  so  sold,  exposed  for  sale,  purchased,  or  had 
in  possession,  with  intent  to  violate  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

TRESPASSING. 

Sec.  19.  Any  person  trespassing  on  any  lands  for  the  pui-pose  of  taking  . 
fish  from  any  private  pond,  stream,  or  spring,  after  public  notice  on  the  part 
of  the  owner  or  occupant  thereof,  or  of  said  lands,  not  to  so  trespass,  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  trespass,  and  in  addition  to  any  damages  recoveiable  by 
law-,  shall  be  liable  to  the  owner,  lessee,  or  occupant  in  a  penalty  of  twenty- 
five  dollars  for  each  offense. 


HOW  PENALTIES    ARE   RECOVERED. 

Sec.  20.  All  penalties  imposed  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  may  be  re- 
covered, with  cost  of  suit,  by  any  person  or  persons  in  his  or  their  own  names, 
l)efbre  any  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  county  where  the  offense  was  commit- 
ted or  where  the  defendant  resides ;  or  when  such  suit  shall  be  brought  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  before  any  justice  of  any  of  the  District  Courts  or  of  the 
Marine  Court  of  said  city ;  or  such  penalties  may  be  recovered  in  an  action 
in  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  state,  by  any  person  or  persons,  in  his  or  their 
own  names ;  which  action  shall  be  governed  by  the  same  rules  as  other  ac- 
tions in  said  Supreme  Court,  excei)t  that  in  a  recovery  by  the  plaintiff" or  plain- 
tiffs in  such  suit  in  said  court,  costs  shall  be  allowed  to  such  plaintiff"  or  plain- 
tift"s,  without  regard  to  the  amount  of  such  reajvery ;  and  any  District  Court 
judge,  justice  of  the  peace,  police,  oi  other  magistrate,  is  authorized,  upon 
receiving  sufficient  security  for  costs  on  the  part  of  the  complainant,  and  suffi- 
cient proof  by  affidavit  of  the  violation  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  by  any 
person  being  temporarily  within  his  jurisdiction,  but  not  residing  therein,  or 


472 


Appendix. 


by  any  person  whose  name  and  residence  are  unknown,  to  issue  his  warrant, 
and  have  such  offender  committed  or  lield  to  bail  to  answer  the  charge  against 
him ;  and  any  JJistrict  Court  judge,  justice  of  the  peace,  police,  or  other  mag- 
istrate, may,  upon  proof  of  probable  cause  to  believe  in  the  concealment  of 
any  game  or  fish  mentioned  in  this  act,  during  any  of  the  prohibited  periods, 
issue  his  search  warrant  and  cause  seardi  to  be  made  in  any  house,  market- 
boat,  car,  or  other  building,  and  for  tliat  end  may  cause' any  apartment,  chest, 
box,  locker,  or  crate  to  be  broken  open  and  ..le  contents  examined.     Any 
penalties,  v,  lien  collected,  shall  be  paid  by  the  court  before  which  conviction 
shiill  be  had,  one  half  to  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  for  the  use  of  the  poor  of 
the  town  in  which  conviction  is  had,  and  the  remainder  to  the  prosecutor. 
On  the  non-payment  of  the  penalty,  the  defendant  shall  be  committed  to  the 
common  jail  of  the  county  fo-  n.  period  of  not  less  than  five  days,  and  at  tht 
rate  of  one  day  for  each  doUar  of  the  amount  of  the  judgment,  where  the  sum 
is  over  five  doUars  in  amount.     Any  court  of  special  sessions  in  tliis  state 
shall  have  jurisdiction  to  try  and  dispose  of  all  and  any  of  the  offenses  arising 
in  the  same  county  against  the  provisions  ot  this  act ;  and  every  justice  of  the 
peace  shall  liave  jurisdiction  within  his  couniy  of  actions  to  reco\er  any  pen- 
alty hereby  given  or  created. 

POSSESSION   OF   GAME    VRIOR  TO    PROHIBITED   PERIOD. 

Sec.  21.  Any  person  proving  that  ti.^  birds,  fish,  skins,  or  animals  found 
in  his  or  her  possession  during  tne  prohibited  periods  were  killed  prior  to 
such  periods,  or  were  killed  in  any  phice  outside  of  the  limits  of  this  state, 
and  that  the  law  of  such  place  did  not  prohibit  such  killing,  shall  he  exempt- 
ed from  the  penaltie   of  this  act. 

COMMON    CARRIERS    AND   EXPRESS    COMPANIES. 

Sec.  22.  In  all  prosecutions  under  this  act,  it  shall  be  competent  for  com- 
mon carriers  or  express  companies  to  show-  that  the  inhibiteil  article  in  his  or 
their  possession  came  into  such  possession  in  anotlier  state,  in  wliich  state  the 
law  did  not  prohibit  such  possession,  and  such  showing  shall  be  deemed  a  de- 
fense in  such  prosecution.  No  action  for  a  penalty  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act  shall  be  settled  or  compromi'?3d,  except  upon  the  payment  into  court 
of  the  full  amount  of  sucli  penalty,  unless  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as 
may  be  imposed  by  tlie  district  attorney  of  the  county  in  which  such  action 
shall  have  been  brought. 

i-AKE    ONTARIO. 

Sec.  23.  Nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  apply  to  fish  caught  or  to  the 
taking  offish  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario,  or  an/  of  its  bays  or  estuaries 
within  the  counties  of  Oswego,  Jefferson,  and  St  Lawrence,  nor  to  the  catch- 
ing of  fish  in  any  way  in  the  St.  Lawrence  Hive'' 


ONEIDA    LAKE. 

Sec.  24.  The  provisions  of  this  act  shall  not  be  deemed  to  apply  to  or  af- 
fect the  taking  of  fish  in  One'da  Lake,  at  a  distance  of  one  mile  beyond  the 
shores  thereof. 


Appendix. 


473 


KENNYETTO   CREEK  AND   8ACANDAGA  VLAIE. 

Sec.  25.  It  shall  be  unlawful  to  use  or  draw,  for  the  taking  offish  of  any  kind 
whatever,  any  seine  or  net  in  Kennyetto  or  Fondasbush  Creek,  in  ihe  county 
of  Fulton,  or  in  the  Saeandaga  Vlaie,  or  in  any  part  thereof  in  said  county 
above  the  covered  bridge,  near  the  village  of  Fish  House,  commonly  known  as 
the  "  Vlaie  Creek  Eridge,"or  in  any  of  the  streams  emptying  into  the  said 
Vlaie. 


VIOLATING  THE   PROVISIONS   OF  THE   PRECEDING   SECTION. 

Sec.  26.  Any  person  violating  the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section  shall, 
upon  conviction  tliereof,  be  deemed  gm'lty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  also  liable 
to  a  penalty  of  twenty-five  dollars,  which  may  be  recovered  in  the  manner 
prescribed  m  section  twenty  of  said  chapter  eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight, 
hereby  amended. 

REPEAL  OF  PREVIOUS  ACTS. 

Sec.  27.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this 
act  are  hereby  repealed,  except  chapter  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  of 
laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one,  which  is  hereby  continued  in  full 
force  and  effect. 

Sec.  28.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

TassedMay  9,  1868. 

State  of  New  York,  •» 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  j  **'  •' 

I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the  original  law  on  file  in  this  office, 
anu  \o  hereby  cerdfy  that  the  same  is  a  correct  transcript  therefrom  and  of 
the  whole  of  said  original  law.        Homer  A.  Nelson,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  following  is  the  act  of  1861,  referred  to  in  section  27  : 

An  act  for  the  Preservation  of  Fish  In  Canandaigua  Lake  and  the  outlet  there- 
'if^  ^!J>n<J  in  the  Counties  of  Ontario  and  Yates. 

,     The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senite  and  Assembliu 
do  enact  us  follows:  '' 

Sec.  1.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  person  or  persons  to  take,  catch,  or 
procure,  m  or  from  Canandaigua  Lake,  or  the  inlet  tliereof,  lying  within  the 
Counties  of  Ontario  and  Yates,  any  fish,  with  or  by  means  of  any  seine,  gill- 
net,  or  other  net. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  shall  knowingly  sell,  or  offer  for  sale,  any  fish  caught  in 
or  irom  said  lake,  or  inlet  thereof,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  first  sec- 
tion of  this  act,  and  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  knowingly  to  purchase 
any  fish  so  taken  in  or  from  said  hike  or  inlet. 

Sec.  3.  Whoever  shall  violate  any  or  either  of  the  provisions  of  this  act 
shall  bo  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shoU  also  be  subject  to  a  pen- 
alty for  each  offense  of  not  less  than  ten  nor  more  than  twentv-five  dolW«. 
to  be  recovered  in  ii  civil  action,  with  costs,  as  hereinafter  :  rovided. 


474 


Appendix. 


Sec.  4.  Any  person  may  bring  or  prosecute  an  action  in  his  own  name  for 
the  recover}'  of  the  fines  or  penalties  imposed  by  this  act,  before  any  justice 
of  the  peace  of  either  of  said  counties,  upon  first  giving  to  such  justice  of  the 
peace  security  for  costs,  satisfactory  to  such  justice,  in  case  he  shall  fail  to 
recover ;  and  in  case  of  n  recovery,  the  amount  thereof,  when  collected,  shall 
be  paid  to  the  court  before  Avhich  such  an  action  shall  be  prosecuted,  together 
with  costs  of  such  suit.  The  court  before  which  such  action  shall  be  brought 
shall  certify  the  reasonable  costs  and  expenses  thereof,  and  pay  the  same  out 
of  the  moneys  so  received,  and  shall  pay  the  residue  thereof,  if  any,  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  county  in  which  such  action  is  brought,  for  the  support  of  the 
poor  of  said  county. 

Skc.  o.  All  laws  inconsistent  with  this  act  are  hereby  repealed. 

Sec.  G.  This  act  shall  take  ciiect  immediately. 

Passed  April  12,  18G1. 


THE  GAME  AND  FISHERY  LAWS  OE  THE   DOMINION  OF  CANADA 
FOR   EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED   AND  SIXTY-NINE. 

(By  Edwaed  C.  Babbkb,  Esq.,  Ottawa,  Author  of  "  The  Crack  Shot,"  etc.,  etc.) 

ONTARIO   AND   QUEBEC. 

Since  the  last  issue  of  the  Year-Book,  very  considerable  changes  have  been 
made  in  the  gamo-laws  of  the  Provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec.  The  fish- 
ery-laws of  the  Dominion  have  also  been  revised  to  some  extent,  and  it  is  now 
believed  that  if  sportsmen  will  respect  the  provisions  of  the  acts,  and  aid  in 
enforcing  the  penalty  against  the  poacher  for  infractions  thereof,  game  and 
fish  will  again  become  plentiful. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  Legislatures  of  the  different  provinces 
have  not  provided  the  means  for  carrj'ing  out  their  various  enactments  on  the 
subject  of  the  protection  of  game,  and  herein  is  felt  the  inconvenience  of  these 
mattei-s  being  dealt  with  in  detail  by  the  various  provinces  instead  of  by  the 
Dominion,  Had  the  Dominion  Legislature  been  vested  with  the  power  of 
legislating  upon  the  subject  of  game  as  well  as  upon  the  fisheries,  the  fishery 
overseers  might  have  been  made  eflScient  aids  to  the  different  game-clubs 
throughout  the  country.  To  those  of  Quebec  and  .Montreal  much  i>raise  is 
due  for  their  efforts  to  protect  game ;  but  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  indi- 
vidual effort  can  stay  the  devastating  hand  of  the  pot-hunter.  Much  good 
would  be  accomplished  if  the  municipalities  could  be  induced  to  aftbrd  their 
aid. 

In  Ontario,  the  close  season  for  deer  or  fawn,  elk,  moose  or  cariboo,  extends 
from  the  1  st  of  December  to  the  succeeding  1  st  of  September,  not  to  be  trap- 
ped ;  the  close  season  for  wild  turkey,  grouse,  pheasant,  and  partridge  is  be- 
tween the  1  st  of  January  and  the  1  st  of  September ;  for  quail  between  the  1  st 
of  January  and  the  1st  of  October;  and  for  woodcock  and  snipe  from  the  1st 
of  March  to  the  1 2tii  of  August ;  and  no  wild  swan,  goose,  or  ani/  description 
of  duck  is  allowed  to  be  killed  between  the  L'ith  day  of  April  and  the  10th 
day  of  August ;  neither  is  it  to  be  trapped,  or  taken  by  means  of  traps,  snares, 
or  springs,  or  killed  by  any  other  method  than  l)y  shooting.     It  is  also  un- 


bl 


Appendix. 


475 


lawful  to  use  sunken  punt*  or  batteries,  or  night  lights.  No  eggs  of  any  kind 
of  the  birds  above  enumerated  are  allowed  to  be  taken  or  destroyed  at  any  time 
No  beaver,  muskrat,  mink,  sable,  otter  or  fisher,  is  to  be  taken  or  trapped  be- 
tween the  1st  of  May  and  the  loth  of  November.*  There  is  also  a  clause  pro- 
tectmg  any  particular  kind  of  game  that  maybe  imported  by  parties  desirous 
of  breeding  the  same.  The  fine  varies  from  $2  to  $25  for  each  head  of  game 
Illegally  killed,  and  in  default  of  payment  offenders  are  imprisoned  in  a  com- 
mon jail  for  a  tei-m  not  exceeding  thirty  days. 

Speckled  trout  can  be  taken  between  the  1st  of  January  and  the  1st  of  Oc- 
tober, but  only  by  angling  by  hand  with  hook  and  line.  Whitefisli  or  salmon- 
trout  are  not  to  be  taken  by  anij  means  between  the  19th  of  November  and 
the  1st  of  December,  nor  by  means  of  any  kind  of  seine  between  the  30th  of 
May  and  the  1  st  of  August.  The  close  seasons  for  bass,  pickerel,  maskinonge, 
and  other  fish  are  to  be  fixed  by  the  governor  in  Council,  to  suit  difl-erent  lo- 
calities. 

In  Quebec,  the  close  season  for  elk,  moose,  cariboo,  deer,  fawn,  or  hare  is 
from  the  1  st  of  February  to  the  1st  of  September ;  for  grouse,  ptarmigan,  part- 
ndge,  woodcock,  or  snipe,  between  the  1st  of  March  and  the  1  st  of  September 
No  wild  swan,  wild  goose,  or  am/  kind  of  wild  duck  is  allowed  to  be  shot  at' 
tiapi)ed,  or  killed  between  the  20th  of  May  and  the  1st  of  September,  except 
in  that  part  of  the  province  east  of  the  Brandy  Pots,  where  the  inhabitants 
are  allowed,  for  food  onl;/,  to  kill  the  same  between  the  1st  of  September  and 
tiie  1st  of  June.  Neither  is  it  lawful  to  kill  any  of  the  above  between  sunset 
and  sunrise.  All  the  game  animals  and  birds  mentioned  in  the  act  except 
hares  and  partridges  are  protected  from  trapping.  No  eggs  of  any  of  the 
kinds  of  birds  mentioned,  or  any  specie,  of  wild-fowl,  are  allowed  to  be  dis- 
turbed, injured,  or  taken. 

No  lynx,  wild  cat,  mink,  or  marten  to  be  taken  or  killed  between  the  ir.th 
ot  April  and  the  1st  of  November;  no  otter  between  the  1st  of  May  and  the 
1st  of  November ;  no  beaver  between  the  30th  of  April  and  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember ;  no  muskrat  between  the  1st  of  June  and  the  21  st  of  October  Nor 
s  uul  u.  y  i,evson  buy,  sell,  or  have  in  his  or  her  possession  any  unseasonable 
skin  0/  any  of  the  said  animals. 

Fines  vary  from  $1  to  $50,  and  in  default  of  immediate  payment  the  penal- 
ly IS  imprisonment  m  the  common  jail  for  a  terra  not  exceeding  three  months. 
No  proceeding  under  diis  act  can  be  set  aside  by  certiorari,  an  appeal  onlv 
lying  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  chief  place  of  the  district  wherein  the  offense 
was  committed.  The  jurisdiction  is  very  summary,  and  the  general  provis- 
ions very  stringent.  No  kind  of  trout  (or  lunge)  can  be  taken  between  the 
1st  of  October  and  the  1st  of  Januaiy;  whitefish  and  salmon-trout  are  not 
to  be  taken  m  anyway  between  the  li)th  of  November  and  the  1st  of  Decem- 
beis  nor  by  means  of  any  kind  of  seine  between  the  31st  of  July  and  the  1st 
ot  December;  between  the  31st  of  October  and  the  31st  of  December  it  is 
t.nlnwtul  to  kill  shad  or  whitefish  in  Missisquoi  Bay,  Lake  Champlain  ;  sal- 
mon can  not  be  fished  for  in  Ontario  and  Quebec,  or  the  River  Restigouche 
(N.  B.),  between  the  31st  of  July  and  the  1st  of  May,  excej.t  by  fly  surface- 
'  The  close  reason  for  hare  is  from  the  Ist  of  March  to  the  1st  of  September. 


476 


Al'PENDIX, 


fishing,  which  extends  in  Ontario  and  Quebec  from  the  30th  of  April  to  the 
31st  of  August. 

It  is  believed  that  much  good  has  already  been  accomplished  by  the  recent 
act  for  the  protection  of  insectivorous  birds.  By  it^  provisions  it  is  made  un- 
lawful to  kill  or  snare,  between  the  1st  of  March  and  the  1st  of  August,  any 
kind  of  bird  whatsoever  except  eagles,  falcons,  hawks,  wild  pigeons,  kingfish- 
ers, crows,  and  ravens.     This  act  applies  to  both  Ontario  and  Quebec. 

NEW    BRCXSWICK. 

The  law  in  this  province  is  very  strict  as  regards  moose,  the  only  game-laws 
of  the  province  being  those  relating  to  the  protection  of  moose  and  partridge. 
The  close  season  only  extends  from  the  1st  of  February  to  the  1st  of  May: 
fine  $40 ;  and  any  one  is  empowered  to  kill  any  dog  found  hunting  within 
the  prohibited  time.  No  one  is  allowed  to  kill  more  than  two  moose  within 
a  period  of  twelve  months:  $12  for  each  offense.  The  killing,  except  for 
food,  is  prohibited ;  and  leaving  the  carcass  in  the  woods  subjects  the  offend- 
er to  a  fine  of  $20.  Partridges  are  not  to  be  killed  between  the  1  st  of  March 
and  the  1st  of  September.  There  was  an  act  making  it  unlawful  to  kill  deer 
on  the  island  of  Grand  Menan  for  a  peiiod  of  three  years,  but  it  expired  June 
8,  1 8G8.  The  fishery  regulations  are  the  same  as  those  of  Quebec  and  Onta- 
rio, except  that  the  close  season  for  salmon  is,  for  net-fishing,  from  the  15th 
of  August  to  the  1st  of  March,  and  fly  surface-fishing  from  the  luth  of  Sep- 
tember to  the  1st  of  March. 


NOVA   SCOTIA. 

Chapter  92  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Nova  Scotia  has  also  been  amended, 
and  now  reads  that  no  moose  shall  be  killed  between  the  1st  of  January  and 
the  1st  of  September ;  no  cariboo  between  the  1st  of  March  and  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember. The  close  time  for  partridge  is  from  the  1st  of  January  to  the  1st  of 
September ;  and  for  woodcock  and  snipe,  from  the  1  st  of  March  to  the  1st  of 
September.  The  prohibitions  respecting  the  killing  of  cow  moose,  and  the 
l.mitation  of  the  number  allowed  to  be  killed,  have  been  removed.  Pheasants 
are  not  allowed  to  be  killed.  The  export  of  moose  and  cariboo  hides  is  pro- 
hibited :  fine  from  $20  to  $50,  and  forfeiture  of  the  game  or  hides.  Otters 
minks,  and  muskrats  are  not  allowed  to  be  killed  between  the  1st  of  May  and 
the  1  st  of  November,  under  a  penalty  of  $8.  It  is  absolutely  forbidden  to  kill 
robms,  swallows,  sparrows,  etc. ,  and  birds  of  song.  Penalty  $  I  for  each  bird 
so  killed. 

The  anomaly  of  the  game-laws  being  dealt  with  by  the  various  provinces 
in  detail  is  strikingly  apparent  when  the  close  seasons  are  considered,  e.  //.  ; 
In  Ontario  the  legal  time  for  killing  deer  ends  on  the  1st  of  December ;  biit 
in  Quebec  it  is  lawful  to  kill  until  the  1st  of  February.  The  same  with  re- 
gard to  ducks :  In  Ontario  the  sportsman  is  debarred  from  knocking  them 
over  after  the  1st  of  March,  but  his  Quebec  brother  can  pop  away  at  them 
until  the  20th  of  May ;  and  so  in  other  instances.  This  causes,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  cause,  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  secure  convictions  against  parties  for 
illegally  killing  game.     These  provinces  being  only  separated  bv  the  liiver 


Appendix. 


47" 


Ottawa  makes  it  difficult  to  establish  the  fact  of  the  illegal  killing.  Would 
it  pot  be  well  to  have  a  convention  of  sportsmen  agree  on  close  seasons  that 
would  answer  for  all  the  provinces,  and  press  the  adoption  of  them  in  their 
respective  Legislatures  ?  Of  course  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way,  but  these 
could  easily  be  got  over  if  sportsmen  would  only  approach  them  in  a  candid 
and  conciliatory  spirit. 

PRINCE    EDWARD   ISLAND. 

The  game-laws  of  Prince  Edward  Island  prohibit  tlie  killing  of  partridges 
between  the  1st  of  Mai-ch  and  the  Jst  of  October,  and  sahnon  in  the  tall. 

NEWFOUNDLAND. 

There  is  only  one  game-law  in  this  island,  entitled  "An  act  for  the  Protec- 
tion and  Breeding  of  WiJd-fowl  and  Game."  It  prohibits  the  killing,  taking, 
purchasing,  selling,  or  possessing  of  partridges  from  the  20th  of  February  to 
the  L>-;th  of  August,  and  applies  a  similar  prohibition  in  the  case  of  snipe,  or 
any  other  wild  or  migratory  birds  frequenting  for  the -purpose  of  incubation 
(except  wild  geese),  from  the  1st  of  April  to  the  20th  of  August. 

BRITISH    COLUMBIA. 

It  is  unlawful  to  buy,  or  sell,  or  exhibit  for  sale,  any  deer  or  elk  between  the 
1st  of  Marcli  and  the  1st  of  August ;  or  any  grouse,  prairie-fowl,  or  partridge, 
or  to  destroy  or  collect  their  eggs,  between  the  1st  of  March  and  the  10th  of 
August.     Fine  $30,  or  three  months'  unprisoument. 


^^Zi\^>v 


478 


Appendix. 


A  WORD. IN  CONCLUSION-. 

And  now,  brethren  of  the  angle— students  in  fish-culture— 
men  anxious  to  develop  American  fisheries  and  establish  ef- 
fective game-laws-farewell  If  true  anglers,  you  are  sure  to 
be  gentle;  and  as  the  truly  gentle  are  always  virtuous,  you 
must  be  happy.     But  the  best  friends  must  part. 

I  have  endeuvo  nd  to  throw  together  some  pleas  in  fax  or 
of  the  "gentle  craft,"  and  to  hint  at  the  importance  of  water- 
farming.  If  my  mite,  contributed  to  the  general  stock  for 
the  promotion  of  rational  enjoyment  and  useful  occupation, 
shall  be  found  worthy  of  those  readers  whom  it  is  my  pleas- 
ure to  honor,  it  will  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  know  that 
my  labors  have  not  been  in  vain. 

Let  neither  prosperity  nor  adversity  deaden  "the  fresh 
feeling  after  Nature"  which  tlic  use  of  the  rod  and  reel  al- 
ways heightens  or  confers.  Wheth-r  overladen  with  good 
fortune  or  sufiering  under  the  sliocks  of  adversity,  forget  not 
to  take  the  magic  wand  and  repair  to  the  murmuring  waters. 
"The  music  of  those  gentle  moralists  will  steal  into  your 
heart ;"  and,  while  invigorating  physical  energy,  your  souls 
will  be  charmed,  and  your  minds  soothed  and  tempered  by 
the  music  of  birds,  the  sights  of  nature,  and  the  sounds  of  in- 
ferior animals  above,  around,  and  beneath  the  enlivening 
waters.  ^ 

With  rosy  dreams  and  bright  streams,  breezy  morns  and 
mellow  skies,  a  light  heart  and  a  clear  conscience,  may  "God 
speed  ye  well." 


INDEX. 


Abrams,  Captain,  91. 
Acclimatizing  fishes,  440. 
Adirondack  bouts,  1G2. 
Ain.'    orth's  race  and  screens,  397. 
Albicore  supposed  to  be  bonetta,  134. 
Alexander's    "Salmon    Fishing"    in 

Canada.  1335. 
Amjjhion  and  the  dolphins,  38. 
Ancient  and  modern  fish-culture,  347. 
,  Anderson,  John,  Esq.,  75. 
Angel-fish  o,       mk-fish,  433. 
Antiquity  of  the  "gentle  art,"  143. 
Apogoi    the  Mediterranean,  424. 
Ardent  ut'  ;ler,  the,  l'J2.  j 

Ar  tin,  GuDrge,  fl3. 
Australia,  the  salmon  experiment  in, 

3G9,  375). 
"Ave  Maria,"  Canadian  version,  218. 
Axillary  sea  bream,  425. 

Bait-box,  174. 

Bait-can  and  baits,  294. 

Bait-fisiiing  for  trout,  189. 

Baits,  3(),  37,  07. 

Ballysadare  salmon-pass,  413. 

Bamboo  rod,  L)r.  Clerk's,  211. 

Banded  ephippus,  the,  425. 

Barbel,  the,  428. 

Barker  an  authority  on  angling,  179. 

Barren  Island,  fidiing  at,  97. 

Basket,  trout,  1 74. 

Bass,  angling  for  striped,  48  ;  trolling 
in  Hell  Gate  for,  52;  still-baiting 
for,  58:  casting  bait  for,  ()4;  an- 
gling at  the  clubs,  fi9  ;  the  sea  bass, 
106 ;  the  black,  282 ;  the  Oswego, ' 
282 ;  the  black  of  the  South,  284 ; 
the  spotted,  or  speckled  hen,  285  ; 
the  rock  bass  of  the  Lakes,  285;  the 
striped  sea,  the  black  of  Lake  Hu 
ron,  and  the  black  sea,  424. 

"Bass  grounds, "282. 

Bearded  umbrina,  425. 

Beardie  or  loach,  428. 

Bellows-fish,  111. 


Bergen  Point,  reef-fishing  on,  01 . 
Berners  or  Barnes,  Dame  Juliana,  143. 
Bethune,  Rev. Dr.,  259,  275. 
Big  porgee,  the,  425. 
Black  buss  of  Lake  Huron,  424. 
iBlack  flies,  antidote  for,  207. 
j  Black  sea  bass,  424. 
iBluefish,  the,  117. 
Blue  shark,  the,  432. 
Bonetta  or  bonito,  132. 
Borelli,  Professor,  45. 
Bory  St. Vincent,  M.,  34. 
[Bottom  fishing,  rig  for,  59. 
iBruckett, 'Walter  M.,  146,  290. 
Bradley,  Professor,  38. 
Breeding  times  of  fishes,  406. 
Brook  trout,  146. 
Brown  catfish,  433. 
Brown's,  Dr.,  Angler's  Guide,  109. 
Buel  feathered  spoon,  285. 
Buel's  patent  feather  troll,  299. 
Bullfrog  and  horned  pout,  435. 

Camp  bed,  229. 

Canada,  hiring  rivers  in,  205 ;  salmon 

fishing  in,  206. 
Canadian  salmon-stairs,  416. 
Canandaigua    Lake,   trout    of,   2G3 ; 

black  bass  of,  282. 
(^anarsie,  fishing  at,  90. 
Caplin,  the,  105. 
Carp  family,  the,  428. 
Carps  at  Rotterdam,  38. 
Casting  bait  for  bass,  64. 
Casting-lines,  straightening,  175. 
Castle  Connell  rods,  212. 
Catfish  family,  the,  433. 
Caving  Channel,  fishing  at,  98. 
Cayuga   Lake,  trout   of,  263  ;    black 

bass  of,  282 ;  pike  of,  288. 
Cero,  cents,  or  sierra,  134. 
Characterization  of  fishes,  17. 
Chars,  M.,37. 

Chesapeake  I^av  fi.sherv,  342. 
Childreti,  angling  for,  198. 


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Index. 


Chimaera  family,  the,  432. 

Chinese  fish-culture,  348. 

Chinese  fishing,  29. 

Chinese  hook,  22. 

Chowder  of  sea  bass  and  clams,  107. 

Churn-spoon,  (57. 

Cisco  or  ciscoqiiette,  292. 

Clams,  trade  in,  340. 

Clergyman's  contribution,  a,  189. 

Clerk  (A.)  and  Co.,  63, 179, 184,  211. 

Clubs,  bassing,  69. 

Coalfish,  430. 

Coast  and  estuary  fishes,  46. 

Coast  fishes  and  fisheries,  319. 

Codfish,  the,  328. 

Cod  family,  the,  430. 

Cod-liver  oil,  339. 

Colquhoun,  John,  on  moving  largefish, 
248. 

Commercial  values — Squeteague,  81  ; 
sea  bass,  1 08 ;  of  Lake  fisheries,  315: 
of  mackerel,  323 ;  of  shad,  32.5 ;  of 
menhaden,  328 ;  of  salt-water  fish- 
eries, 339. 

Coney  Island,  fishing  at,  80. 

Connecticut  Kiver,  49. 

Cookery  for  sportsmen,  445  ;  general 
rules  for,  458. 

Cosie,  M.,  French  commissioner,  40. 

Crooked  Lake,  fishes  in,  283. 

Cross-fishing  for  salmon,  302. 

Cruelty  of  fishes,  43. 

Current  v/heel,  419. 

Cuttle-fish,  3G6. 

Dace  and  roach,  427. 

Daniell,  Rev.  W.  B.,  28,  36,  37. 

Davy,  Sir  Humphry,  28. 

De  Blainville,  M.,40. 

Diploprion,  the  two-banded,  424. 

"Doctor,  the,"  fishing  with,  69. 

Dogfish,  the  large-spotted,  the  small 
spotted,  the  picked  (or  piked),  432. 

Dolphin  of  the  ancients,  426. 

Dressing  flies,  308. 

Dried  codfish,  339. 

Drops,  knots,  and  loops,  166. 

Dudong,  the,  25. 

Duhalde,  Father,  on  Chinese  fish-cul- 
ture, 347. 

Dumeril,  M.,  36. 


Eagle  or  whip  ray,  the,  433. 
I^^astport  fishery,  statistics  of,  339. 
Eel,  the  common,  436. 


Egyptian  fishing,  19. 

Elizabeth  Islands,  77. 

Encampment  on  St.  John  River,  222. 

EncyclopsediaBritannica, extract  from. 
31.  ' 

English  Neighborhood  bridge,  49. 
Enoplossus,  the  armed,  424. 
Estuary  catfish,  the,  439. 
Etslis,  the  ruby-colored,  424. 
Europe,  great  lake  trout  of,  429. 

Fecundated  spawn,  390. 

Fecundity  of  fishes,  41. 

Feeding,  times  for,  44. 

Feeding  young  trout  or  salmon,  392. 

"Field,"  the  London,  159. 

Findon  haddocks,  342. 

Finn,  Mr.,  30. 

Fire  Island,  the  fishing  at,  94. 

Fish-culture,  ancient  and  modem,347; 
in  Europe  in  early  times,  350 ;  of 
this  century,  355. 

JFish  propagation  assisted  by  art,  378. 

Flatfish  family,  the,  431 . 

Flies,  artificial,  30 ;  natural,  for  sal- 
mon and  trout,  31 ;  for  trout,  176  ; 
select  artificial,  for  trout,  1 84  ;  for 
salmon,  306 ;  fly-dressing,  308. 

Florida,  black  bass  in  rivers  of,  284. 

Flounder,  the,  116 ;  the  oblong,  431. 

Fly-fishing  for  trout,  1 54 ;  on  Massa- 
piqua  Lake,  162 ;  on  St.  John  Riv- 
er, 244. 

Flying-fish,  429. 

Fly-rods,  1 73 ;  modem  splice  for,  159. 

Francis  Francis  on  rods,  210;  on  spin- 
ning baits,  301. 

French  commission  on  fish-culture, 
359. 

French  hatching-boxes,  382. 

Frog,  the  fishing,  42(5. 

Furman's  hatching-race,  401. 


Game  laws,  151,  467. 
Garfish,  common,  429. 
Gaspe,  horse  mackerel  in  Bay  of,  135. 
Gaylor,  Charles,  1 23. 
Gehin,  Antoine,  fish-culturist,  24,  356. 
Geneva  Lake,Wis.,  cisco  in,  293. 
Gibson,  Sandy,  guide  and  gaft'er,  56. 
Gillai'oo  trout,  the,  256. 
Gillone's  fMr.  J.)  process  of  propaga- 
tion, 388. 
Glisten,  Mr.,  123. 
Glass  or  wall-eyed  pike,  288. 


Index. 


481 


Gloves  for  trolling  with,  121. 

Golden  carp  or  goldfish,  428. 

Golden  mullet,  100. 

Grand  Lake,  trout  of,  258. 

Grayling,  the,  441. 

Greek  poem— the  Halieutics,  19, 

Green's  (Seth)  "general  directions," 

Greenwood  Lake,  pickerel  of,  267, 
Grilse,  salmon,  376, 
Growler,  the,  of  Virginia,  424. 
Grunter,  the,  99. 
Guiana  garfish,  429, 
Gurnard,  the  maUed,  425;  the  streaked 
or  rock,  425. 


Habits  of  fis'es,  22. 

Hackett's  spinning  tackle,  296. 

Haddock,  the,  430. 

Hake,  the  great  forked,  430. 

Halibut  fishery,  statistics  of,  339. 

Halibut,  the,  431. 

Harlem  River,  fishing  in,  49. 

Haskell's  trolling  bait,  297. 

Hat  for  fishing,  208. 

Hatching  salmon,  382. 

Haunts  of  fishes,  44. 

Hell  Gate,  trolling  in,  62. 

Hibernating  black  bass,  282. 

Hogfish,  the,  98. 

Hooks— Theban,  Pompeiian,  Chinese, 
O  Shaughnessy,  Pennsylvanian,  22  ; 
for  bass,  55,  62;    for  sheepshead, 
87;  round-bend  fly,  185  ;  fish-hook 
philosophy,  185;    "  Salmoniceps's" 
opmions  on,  187 ;  fish-hooks,  304  ; 
mounting  salmon-hooks,  310. 
Horizontal  screen,  419. 
Horned  pout,  the,  433. 
Horse  mackerel,  135. 
Hue,  Chinese  missionary,  348. 
Huchen,  the,  44L 
Hughes,  Archbishop,  275, 
Hughes,  boat-builder,  56. 
Huningue,  fish-culture  at,  362. 
Hunter,  Dr.,  39. 
Hutchinson's  Sproat-bend  hooks,  306. 

Ichthyology,  a  glimpse  of,  421. 
Inde,  the,  440. 
Intelligence  of  fishes,  18. 

Jamaica  Bay,  fishing  in,  94  ;  trolling 

in,  123 ;  Spanish  mackerel  in,  129. 
Jardine,  8ir  William,  42. 

H 


Johnson  s.  Dr.  Samuel,  plagiarism,  156. 
Johnson's,  of  Boston,  rods,  212. 
Jones,  William  Floyd,  163. 
Josh  Billinjs,  lesson  by,  191. 

Kelly's,  Alartin,  rods,  212. 
Kingfish,  the,  95, 
King's  Bridge,  fishing  at,  49. 
Knots,  loops,  and  drops,  166. 

Lddd«ir,  fish,  407. 

Ladies,  fishing  for,  52. 

Lady,  catfish,  439. 

Lake  hen-ing,  291. 

Lamprey,  the,  437. 

Landing  nets,  173. 

Leaping  of  trout,  anecdote  of,  417 

Lebault,  M.,39. 

Lines,  64 ;  for  trolling,  121 ;  salmon 

casting,  212. 
Loach,  the,  or  beardie,  428. 
Long  Island  trout,  147. 
Long  Lake,  red  trout  of,  2G2. 
Loops,  knots,  and  drops,  166. 
Lycoming  Creek,  anglers  on,  193. 

M'Harg's  troll,  299. 

Mackerel,  the  Spanish,  1 26 ;  the  horse 
135;  the  common,  319.  ' 

Mackinaw  trout,  the,  264. 

Mailed  gurnard,  425. 
Malay  emblem  of  constancy,  25. 
Marshfield  trout,  147, 
Maskinonge,  the,  277,  441. 
Massapiqua  Lake,  fly-fishing  on,  162. 
Menhaden  or  mossbunker,  326. 
Mesoprion,  the  one-spotted,  424. 
Middle  Dam  camp,  181. 
Mirage  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  335. 
Mitchell,  Hon.  P.,  of  Ottawa,  205. 
Mitchell,  Professor,  83. 
Modern  fish-culture,  347. 
Mollychumkemunk  Lake,  181. 
Monk-fish  or  angel-fish,  433. 
Moosehead  Lake,  trout  of,  261 . 
Morland,  Thomas,  135. 
Morrison,  Captain,  123, 124. 
Mosier,  the  gaffer,  69. 
Mossbunker  or  menhaden,  326. 
Mountain  mullet,  441. 
Mounting  salmon-hooks,  310. 
Mouth,  the,  of  fishes,  34. 
Mullet,  the  golden,  100;  the  striped 

red,  338 ;  the  mountain,  441 . 
Musquitoes,  antidote  for,  207. 
H 


482 


Index. 


Nerves  of  fishes,  26. 

Nets  employed  in  Lake  fisheries,  317. 

New  York  Bay,  fishing  in,  58. 

Ombre  chevalier,  the,  441. 
Oneida  Lake,  fishes  in,  283, 288. 
Oppian,  the  poet,  19, 111,427. 
Outfit  for  salmon-fishing,  215. 
Ova  of  the  salmon,  securing,  387. 
Owasco  Lake,  fishes  in,  283. 
Oyster  industry,  the,  341. 


Parr,  salmon,  373,  374. 

Pasque  Island,  fishing  at,  76. 

Perch,  the,  287. 

Perch,  the  white,  101. 

Perfume  bait  of  M.  Chars,  37. 

Philosophy,  fish-hook,  185. 

Pickerel,  the  American,  266 ;  skitter- 
ing for,  277;  still-baiting  for,  271. 

Pike,  the  American  pickerel,  266  ;  the 
glass-eyed  or  wall-eyed,  288. 

Pike  family,  the,  429. 

Pike-perch,  the  common,  423. 

Pilot-fish,  the,  425. 

Pine  Creek,  Penn,,  anglers  on,  192. 

Plaice,  the,  431. 

Poachers  and  poaching,  152. 

Poetry  of  angling,  141. 

Poisoning  fish,  34. 

Pompeii,  hook  exhumed  at,  22. 

Porbeagle,  the,  432. 

Porgee,  the,  108, 

Porgee,  the  big,  425 ;  the  three-tailed, 

425. 
Porpoise,  the  black,  25. 
Porpus,  the,  25. 
Portugal,  a  fish-pond  in,  39. 
Prerequisites  for  fishing,  22. 
Preserving  food  fishes  fresh,  343. 
Pritchard  Brothers,  184,  212. 
Propagation  of  fishes,  21,  378. 
Propelling  minnow,  the,  298. 
Propulsive  power  of  fishes,  23. 
Pugne  Island,  75. 


Rice  Lake,  the  maskinonge  of,  278. 

Roach,  the,  427. 

Robinson  splice,  the,  159. 

Rockfish  or  wrasses,  111. 

Rockling,  the,  430. 

Rods,  54,  68,  66 ;   modem  splice  for 

fly-rods,  159;  fly-rods  for  trout,  173; 

for  salmon,  208,  212. 
Rogers,  Sir  Walter,  39. 
Ruggles,  Judge  Philo  T.,  30. 
Russell,  Mr.  Willis,  of  Quebec,  214. 
Rusty  dab,  the,  431. 


m 


Queer  fishes,  439. 

Rapid  River,  trout  fishing  in,  181. 
Rattling  Run,  salmon  fishing  in,  241. 
Ray  family,  the,  433. 
Reels,  64 ;  trout  reels,  172 ;  salmon 

reels,  212. 
Remy,  Joseph,  fish-culturist,  356. 
Reuiiie,  James,  28, 33. 


Salmon  and  trout  family,  429. 
Salmon,  the,  202 ;  outfit  for  salmon 
fishing,  207 ;  departure  for  fishing, 
215  ;  fishing  in  the  St.  John  River, 
218  ;  a  morning's  experience,  234  ; 
natural   history   of,   367 ;    feeding 
young  salmon,  392 ;  salmon-passes, 
ladders,  etc. ,  407. 
Salmon-hatching,  382 ;   securing  the 
ova,  487 ;   Mr.  John  Gillone's  pro- 
cess of  propagating,  388  ;   feeding 
young,  392. 
Salmon,  trolling  for,  in  Scotland,  302. 
Salmon  leaps,  411. 
"Salmonia,"28. 
"  Salmoniceps"  on  hooks,  187, 
Salt-water  fisheries,  339. 
Saybrook,  49. 
Scabburd-fish,  the,  426. 
Scaling  fish,  instructions  for,  99. 
Scandinavian  charr,  441. 
Schoodic  Lake,  trout  of,  258. 
Scollops,  trado  in,  340. 
Sea  bass,  the,  106. 
Sea  loach,  the,  430. 
Sea  salmon,  the  common,  429. 
Sea  snipe,  the.  111. 
"Secrets  of  Angling, "  by  J,  Davors,  37. 
Seneca  Lake,  trout  of,  263;  black  bass 

in,  282 ;  pike  in,  288. 
Senses  of  fishes,  24, 
Serranus,  the  lettered,  424;  thespined, 
424,  ' 

Shad,  the,  324, 
Sharks,  432. 

Shaw,  Mr.,  of  Scotland,  24. 
Sheepshead,  84  ;  angling  for,  92. 
Shiner,  the,  294. 
Shiner,  the  New  York,  428. 
Sierra,  cero,  or  cerus,  134. 
Silure,  the,  439. 
Silver  or  sea  trout,  255. 


Index. 


483 


Sinker,  the  ponderating,  310. 

Sinkers  for  slieepshead,  88. 

Skaneateles  Lake,  fishes  in,  283. 

Sligo  salmon-stairs,  415. 

Smell  in  fishes,  36. 

Smelt,  the,  102. 

Smelts,  trade  in,  340. 

Smoking  salmon,  statistics  of,  339. 

Smelt,  salmon,  375. 

Smooth  hound,  the,  432. 

Snedicor's,  Oba,  preserve,  158. 

Sole,  the  common,  431. 

"Songs  of  the  "Wilderness,"  extract 

from,  234. 
Southern  sea  trout,  82. 
Southside  Club,  158. 
Spanish  mackerel,  15G. 
Spawning-boxes,  directions  for,  386, 

392.  ' 

Spawning  times  of  fishes,  406. 

Spearing,  the,  103. 

Spinning  baits,  295. 

Spinning  tackle  for  live  bait,  299. 

Splice,  modern,  for  fly-rods,  159. 

Bpuyten  Duyvel  Creek,  bass  fishing  in, 
49,52.  ^     ' 

Squetecgue  or  weakfish,  79. 

Squids— for  bluefish,  120;  for  Spanish 
mackerel,  131. 

St.  John's  River,  fishing  on,  222. 

Stain,  how  to,  silkworm  gut,  170. 

Statistics  of  Lake  fisheries,  315;  of 
mackerel  catches,  323;  of  shad  fish- 
eries, 325  ;  of  menhaden,  328  ;  of 
salt-water  fisheries,  339. 

Stocking  old  pondc,  393. 

Stoddart,  Thomas  Tod,  on  worm-fish 

ing  for  trout,  191. 
Stoddart's  directions  for  obtaining  silk- 
worm gut,  171. 

Straightening  casting  lines,  175. 


Streaked  or  rock  gurnard,  425. 

Stream,  how  to  fish  a,  165. 

Striped  bass,  48.     See  also  Bass. 

Striped  sea  bass,  424. 

Stripping  trout,  391. 

Sturgeon  and  Chimaera  family,  432. 

Sucker,  common  New  York,  428. 

Sulphur  whale,  335. 

Sunfish,  the,  286 ;  the  short  sunfish, 
442. 

Superior,  food  fishes  of  Lake,  315. 

Surmullet,  the  red,  424. 

Swordfish,  the  common,  and  the  In- 
dian, 426. 


Tackle  f>:  taking  smiall  bass,  60;  for 
kingfish,  97 ;  for  sea  bass,  108 ;  for 
bluefish,  120 ;  for  trouting,  159 ;  for 
salmon,  207;  for  pickerel,  270 ;  for 
maskinongd,  279. 
Taste  in  fishes,  33. 
Tautog  or  blackfish,  118. 
Tautog,  the  American,  111 ;  how  to 

cook  it,  114. 
Teeth  of  fishes,  34. 
Tench,  the,  428. 
Thebes,  hook  exhumed  at,  22. 
Thombi!  '   ray,  the,  433. 
Thousan.    Islands,  the,  274. 
Thumb-stall,  67. 
Tongue,  tlie,  of  fishes,  34. 
Tope  or  penny-dog,  432. 
Torpedo,  the  common,  433. 
Torsk,  the,  430. 

"Transmutations  of  the  salmon,"356. 
TroUing— in  Hell  Gate,  62;  among 
the  Thousand  Islands,  274;  troll- 
ing weather  and  baits,  303;  differ- 
ent kinds  of  tackle,  53,  54,  56,  295, 
296,  297,  298,  299.  ' 

Trout,  the    Southern    sea,  82;    the 
brook,  146;    fly-fishing  for,  154; 
bait-fishing  for,  189;  silver  or  sea, 
255;   the  white,  258;    the  winni- 
nish,  260 ;   the  red  of  Long  Lake, 
262 ;  of  Seneca  and  Cayuga,  263 ; 
the  Mackinaw,  264 ;  stripping,  391; 
feeding  young,  392  ;  stocking  old 
ponds  with,  393 ;   the  New  York 
brook,  429 ;  the  great  lake  trout  of 
Europe,  429. 
Troutlet,  429. 
Trumpet-fish,  111. 
Trygon,  the  many-spined,  433. 
Tunny,  the  common,  426. 
Turbot,  the,  431. 
Tusculum,  ancient  fish-ponds  at,  360. 

Umbagog  Lake,  181. 

Umbagog  range  of  lakes,  trout  of,  147. 

Umbrina,  the  bearded,  425. 


Vision  in  fishes,  26. 
Voracity  of  fishes,  42. 

Walcott's  (U*-.)  verses,  43. 
Wall-eyed  or  glass-eyed  pike,  288. 
Walton,  Izaak,  36,  37. 
Weakfish  or  squeteague,  79. 
Webster,  the  late  Hon.  Daniel,  158. 


484 


Index. 


Welch's  (Robert)  rods,  212. 

West  Island,  fishing  at,  G9. 

Whale  fishing,  332. 

Whip  or  eagle  ray,  the,  433. 

Whitefish,  the,  290. 

Whitefish,  frozen,  291. 

Whitefish  of  the  Lakes,  429. 

White  salmon  of  Virginia,  424. 

White's  CDr.)  story  of  a  bullfrog,  434. 

White  trout,  the,  258. 

Whiting,  the,  430. 

Wilkes,  George,  fishing  with,  62. 


Winninish,  the,  200,  442. 

Wolf-fish,  the,  42G. 

Worm-fishing  for  trout,  194. 

Wrasse,  the  blue-striped,  111. 

Wrasses  or  rockfish.  111. 

Wright,  Sile,  the  guide  and  gaffer,  56. 

Xenarchus,  "  the  purple  of,"  20. 

Yellow  perch,  the  American,  424. 

Zodiac,  signs  of  the,  18. 


i  * 


,56. 


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